Trump’s pick for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley “Has absolutely zero foreign policy experience,” Phyllis Bennis told Real News Network. “No diplomatic experience that we know of.”

This makes it very hard to know exactly how she would play out in this role  Bennis said.

Haley does have a history of opposing LGBTQ rights and cutting funding for HIV prevention. Given her domestic policy track record, “regarding issues of health, children and all the various human rights work of the United Nations, it’s very unlikely that is something she is either familiar with or finds important.”

In recent years, Bennis said, the role of the ambassador has shifted to focus on building UN support for U.S. wars, and Haley has nearly no experience with that either.  Just because Donald Trump described her as somebody who’s known for being able to pull people together doesn’t mean she has any experience dealing with coalition-building between nation states who have their own interests to defend, Bennis said.

If the Senate took the United Nations seriously, Bennis said, they would insist on a serious diplomat, “somebody who can navigate these very complicated situations like the crisis in and around Syria.” At least if you’re not going to appoint an experienced diplomat, you should consider an experienced academic on the issues, and Haley is not someone who has this training, Bennis said.

“This is consistent, I’m afraid, with Donald Trump’s view that loyalty in some sense, is the only consideration and competency does not seem to be high on the agenda.”