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Matt Gaetz Withdraws
Matt Gaetz, the controversial Florida Congressman nominated by President-Elect Trump as his Attorney General, has withdrawn his name from consideration. He issued the following statement:
I had excellent meetings with Senators yesterday. I appreciate their thoughtful feedback – and the incredible support of so many. While the momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition. There is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle, thus I’ll be withdrawing my name from consideration to serve as Attorney General. Trump’s DOJ must be in place and ready on Day 1.
I remain fully committed to see that Donald J. Trump is the most successful President in history. I will forever be honored that President Trump nominated me to lead the Department of Justice and I’m certain he will Save America.
Published in General
President Trump now needs to appoint someone who the Left hates (and fears) more than Gaetz. They must be taught that when they “win”, they lose. Harmeet Dhillon?
I think Trump should pick John Yoo – young, brilliant, and a fellow customer of McDonald’s.
This is a nice statement from former Rep. Gaetz. He is smart and had to know what a distraction this would become. What are the real reasons for his withdrawal. Please add to it as you see fit.
I think that’s about it, Brian. I suspect #2 was the proverbial straw.
I think Trump needs to appoint someone who can be effective at reforming the DoJ. I don’t care at all if that ends up being someone the Left has on its hate list or not – it could be a complete unknown, for all I care. What I want is someone who can get the job done. Drinking liberal tears is not of first importance to me.
GOP Senators were not thrilled with the pick. Murkowski and Collins already bailed. Gaetz could not credibly deny knowing the underage girl but respond that the DOJ and the Ethic probe found that the facts did not rise to a criminal offense in large part because the element of intent would be in doubt if he had reason to believe she was older. Still an unsavory image. Even if the accusations were initially promoted by some very unsavory types, it is not a great way opening for hearings on a key cabinet position.
The MSM would have spent 24/7 on Gaetz’ alleged sex crimes with stories about DOJ lawyers having no respect, GOP Senators grilled daily on the steps of the Capitol about supporting a predator, the same women who grieved the election on TikTok and Twitter would be raging about Trump’s support for a rapist. It would be a feeding frenzy with many GOP legislators running and hiding instead of being united out on the offensive.
Hope Plan B is someone with the disposition, the resume and the chops to shovel out that place.
Much too nice a guy.
I love John Yoo; I just don’t see him shaking things up.
Yoo would, of course, be brilliant. But his legal positions during the Bush administration might be problematic. Not that he was wrong, but that is no longer criteria apparently for some number if Republican senators. It is sufficient for them that he is controversial. And we can’t have that.
#2 is probably the main driver, but I think #4 has some truth to it as well.
Harmeet would be great. So would the gentleman who I suspect has just moved up to the top of the list: Todd Blanche, whom Trump has already nominated for the Deputy AG spot.
I bet Gaetz doesn’t go away. He will be a pain for the Dems in a spot where confirmation isn’t required.
If Trump can figure out a way to loose Gaetz on Democrats, hey, I’m all for it.
There’s a U.S. Senate spot that will be opening up in a couple of months: Rubio’s.
Haha. That would be sweet.
I doubt that being controversial is a problem for most senators. A lot of the Trump picks I like are probably controversial in that they represent a 180 shift away from Leftist pieties and priorities. But Gaetz was well beyond that kind of controversial, and did not seem qualified to boot.
I could be wrong about this, but I think, technically, that Gaetz can go back to his house seat. He resigned from this term; he could simply start up with the new term coming in.
Not only that, but would also replace a MIC-friendly Senator with a MIC-unfriendly one.
I don’t think Gaetz would have resigned his seat if there wasn’t a plan B. Trump got to see who in Congress would create prinlems for him. This might have been an alternate version of “kick a&& and take names.” “Take names then kick….”?
Yes, this is a very likely outcome in my opinion. Further analyzing it, this was the plan all the time. By taking a diversionary route via an initial Attorney General nomination was very strategic. First of all, it torpedoed the release of the House report sucking up a lot of energy trying to get a copy of it which he knew would be leaked. The nomination also kept those Freedom Caucus members and their supporters all lathered up and further welding them to Trump. Trump can play this out in the media how awful they treated poor Rep. Gaetz further shoring up his base.
In the meantime Gaetz can sit back for a while till the official Rubio resignation and get popped in as another solid Trump ally in the senate.
There are lots of wins in this move. Trump plays a mean game of political chess. Well played Mr. President.
Matt Gaetz has a better chance of being named the head of the Girl Scouts than being nominated to the Senate by Ron DeSantis.
How do you think the governor is spending Gaetz Withdrawal Day?
If what we want is outrage, I propose this. Drop that square, Marco Rubio. Donald Trump should pardon Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and nominate him for Secretary of State. Think how angry that would make the Dems!
A conviction for statutory rape doesn’t require intent. Just doing it is sufficient; intent or ignorance of the real age of the victim is irrelevant.
I respectfully disagree. Governor Ron DeSantis is a much smarter politician than to let such a stupid comment keep him from a smart political move. The governor moved beyond Trump’s nasty comments about him. This is just politics as usual in the Trump era. Gaetz fancies himself a junior Trump which he is not. Maybe a few years in the upper house will temper Gaetz’s penchant for stupid comments.
Sorry, but I don’t see this as “political chess” at all. I think Trump wanted Gaetz and nominated him in a spur-of-the-moment whim. I doubt much, if any, thought or strategy went into it. But thankfully Trump did this early enough for the Gaetz pick to fail long before the he takes office. Hopefully Trump will put more thought into his next pick.
Heckler’s veto wins again. Trump may be the only person in the world who still watches the ‘MSM’.
And well done, ‘principled’ Senators: what’s your plan for cleaning the Augean Stables of the DoJ? It’s not a matter of throwing out a few bad apples. This is an institution that has spent a decade breaking the law and destroying individual lives to bring down a political adversary.
Who next? Hulk Hogan. Jair Bolsonaro. Or if you want a lawyer, Victor Orban.
Frankly, don’t care. I want to see Trump’s plan B
If she lied to him? I am not falling for any of the Dem pretend morality angst. I saw how they protected the Bidens.
I don’t think anything is “spur of the moment” with the team he has.
The Governor has to deal with President Trump. He doesn’t have to deal with Matt Gaetz. Before he got on Trump’s radar as AG, Gaetz had his eye on DeSantis’s job. There’s no reason for DeSantis to allow Gaetz to undo everything he’s accomplished for Florida and the State party.