Why I dressed up as a swamp monster (twice) to troll a Trump Cabinet nominee

We have to be the trolls we wish to see in the world

Two weeks ago, I walked into Interior Secretary nominee David Bernhardt’s Senate hearing looking like most of the other people in the room. By the time I left, something was different.

That’s me in the video, just over Bernhardt’s right shoulder, sliding on a swamp monster mask. My sister-in-protest, Layla Anthony, was on his other side also sitting quietly in her mask, surveying the room to see if Bernhardt himself or the Senators questioning him would notice us.

I’m pretty sure they did.

After I left the hearing at the request of the thoroughly confused Capitol Police, my phone blew up. Rachel Maddow and AOC tweeted the video of me. After I recovered from fan-girling over that particular career milestone, I did interviews with almost a dozen reporters and made my late-night television debut, courtesy of John Oliver. The next morning, my mom called to tell me she was proud and reminded not to get arrested (I didn’t). Even my high school AP government teacher got in touch.

Here’s why I did it.

Bernhardt built his career representing companies that want to tear down protections for clean air, clean water, and a healthy climate. He has literally sued the Interior Department, which he is now one step away from leading, on behalf of a former client. In the two years he’s spent inside the White House — first as Deputy Secretary of the Interior and now as Acting Secretary — he’s already enacted policies pushed by groups he used to represent and may have continued lobbying after saying he had officially stopped. Not only that, but he and his former lobbying firm have donated almost $1m since 2013 to Senators who will vote on his confirmation today.

If this is what “draining the swamp” looks like, I would personally like to advocate that we hire a different plumber. This one seems to have misunderstood the assignment.

In Trump’s America, the bar for “ridiculous” is set pretty high. But this has to qualify. That’s the point I’m trying to make every time I put on that absurd mask. There’s only so much moral outrage and righteous indignation we can muster, and Trump has been working those muscles out hard. Sometimes we have to simply call out the absurdity of our government. We have to protest through our laughter and our ridicule. We have to be the trolls we wish to see in the world.

Despite the success of our first silent protest, my days as a swamp monster weren’t over. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee voted 14-6 to advance Bernhardt’s nomination to a full Senate vote, which is expected to take place later today. Once again, I donned my mask and prepared to make some Senators deeply uncomfortable. Today, I joined a group of swamp monsters (and allied humans) to deliver more than 170,000 petitions signed by people across the country opposing Bernhardt’s nomination to Mitch McConnell’s office.

Most people would consider putting on your best suit and a swamp monster mask to pay a visit to Capitol Hill ridiculous. And it absolutely is. Those masks are hot and sweaty, and I can barely see or hear when I’m wearing one. It’s definitely not your typical business casual attire. But what’s more ridiculous is putting a career lobbyist in charge of this country’s public lands and waters.

In just a few hours, the Senate will be confronted with Bernhardt’s shady dealings and pandering to the fossil fuel industry and will decide whether he’s fit to lead the Interior Department. I hope they don’t choose to look the other way, but if they do, rest assured that the swamp monster activists of the world will not.

Irene Kim is a program operations coordinator for Greenpeace USA in Washington, DC.