“It’s nice to see the town whore in church; that doesn’t mean she should preach the sermon.”

This joke originated to describe tensions within the conservative coalition more than half a century ago. Still, as President-elect Donald Trump returns to office, it’s proven applicable today.

Every successful movement faces the problem of distinguishing between genuine converts and opportunistic or subversive ones. To avoid embarrassment, it makes sense to keep newcomers away from prominent positions until they’ve proven themselves.

At the same time, however, it would be unwise to overburden new converts. Their zeal and talents can be valuable resources, and their example can encourage others to have a similar change of heart. Look no further than your 2024 ballot below Donald Trump’s name for evidence.

Vice President-elect JD Vance described himself as a “never Trump guy” in 2016 and even speculated in private communications that Trump could become “America’s Hitler.” His opponents in the 2022 Ohio Senate primary gleefully seized on these comments and flooded the airwaves with ads questioning Vance’s commitment to MAGA.

Eight years later, he was one of Trump’s greatest assets. His performance in the VP debate and appearances on significant podcasts showed voters a side of MAGA they’d never seen—simultaneously pugnacious, intellectual, and winsome.

Vance, of course, did not go from calling Trump “Hitler” to joining his ticket overnight. He spent years proving himself in public speeches, press interviews, TV appearances, on the campaign trail, and in the U.S. Senate. Besides, he had a fair reason for his change of heart — Trump was a liberal for most of his adult life, and at the time, it was fair to question whether his pivot to conservatism was sincere.

Compare that to someone like Alex Wilcox, the airline executive industry insiders consider a leading contender to run the Federal Aviation Administration. Wilcox would love to convince the president-elect’s inner circle—and Republicans in general—that he’s all-in for Trump. After the July assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, Wilcox shared Elon Musk’s X post endorsing Trump. On Election Day, he posted two pictures of himself posing beside Trump with the caption “MAGA.” Sure, he’s a former Democrat, but many former Democrats are Trump supporters now.

Look closer, though, and the facade crumbles.

Not only was Wilcox once registered as a Democrat, but he donated to multiple Democrats in the 2024 election cycle—and not blue-dog Democrats either. Wilcox cut a check to Washington Rep. Rick Larsen, who voted with President Joe Biden 86 percent of the time and called Trump “too weak and unstable to lead the country.”

He also gave money to Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell, who voted to convict Trump in both of his impeachment trials. After the second acquittal, she wrote that he “should still be held accountable for his actions,” presaging the lawfare campaign against Trump that dogged him throughout his 2024 presidential bid.

The problem isn’t just how Wilcox uses his checkbook; it’s how he uses his authority too. During Wilcox’s tenure as CEO, air carrier JSX has become a cesspool of the same toxic DEI nonsense that voters emphatically rejected at the ballot box.

Wilcox touts his company’s perfect score with the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index, calling it “one of the great  honors of my 30+ year career in aviation.” HRC, an extremist LGBT organization, endorsed Kamala Harris in 2024 and opposes state laws that ban giving cross-sex hormones to children.

To evaluate JSX for its index, HRC considered the “availability of routine, chronic care and transition-related medical coverage for transgender employees and dependents.” Apparently, Wilcox’s company passed with flying colors.

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Wilcox also joined the war on meritocracy by promising JSX would “develop policies to support diverse hires.”

In 2021, he signed a letter on behalf of the company declaring that “we can state very clearly and confidently, without hesitation, that Black Lives Matter and we stand in solidarity as allies against racism, social injustice, and inequality.” Plenty of companies were bamboozled into swearing allegiance to the openly Marxist, anti-family BLM movement in the months after George Floyd’s death, so JSX isn’t unique in this regard. What’s less forgivable, though, is that this statement still appears on the company’s website.

It was one thing when all of corporate America was in thrall to race and gender madness. But at a time when major corporations like Meta, Walmart, Ford, and McDonald’s have scaled back DEI initiatives and dropped out of the HRC’s Corporate Equality Index, there’s no excuse for continuing to parrot these dangerous ideologies. None. Not even cowardice. If Wilcox is still pushing wokeness at JSX, that must be because he truly supports it.

Trump needs real allies in the battle against DEI. That’s why he has appointed stalwarts like former Rep. Sean Duffy to head the Department of Transportation, which oversees the FAA), after outgoing Secretary Pete Buttigieg spent four years rambling on about racist highways and climate change while airplanes disintegrated mid-flight. While Mr. Duffy is undoubtedly up to the task, Wilcox’s presence at FAA could derail any attempt to get that particular agency back on track.

Personnel is policy. Insincere hangers-on sabotaged Trump’s first term. For the sake of the country, that cannot happen again. Vance and other proven MAGA converts are welcome in the pulpit any day. Wilcox, on the other hand, needs to spend a little more time in the back pew. If the town whore wants to preach, she should probably stop turning tricks first.