- Far-right Republican congressman Matt Gaetz has prominent critics in both parties
- Gaetz was investigated by the Justice Department as part of a trafficking case
- The House Ethics Committee also investigated Gaetz for allegations of sexual misconduct, illicit drug use and other alleged ethical breaches
Matt Gaetz, the far-right Republican congressman from Florida, is Donald Trump’s nominee for Attorney General. And not a lot of people are particularly enthralled about it.
Gaetz, a Trump loyalist, has been investigated by both the Justice Department, as part of a sex-trafficking case, and by the House Ethics Committee amid allegations of sexual misconduct, illicit drug use and other alleged ethical breaches.
While Gaetz has strongly denied any wrongdoing, and the Justice Department declined to bring charges against him, his nomination by Trump has still been met with extreme derision by members of his own party as well as the opposition.
Ohio’s Republican congressman Max Miller decried Gaetz as “a reckless pick” to Axios, stating, “Matt Gaetz has a better shot at having dinner with Queen Elizabeth II than being confirmed by the Senate”.
Former national security advisor John Bolton, who served in every Republican White House administration since Reagan, was similarly vitriolic about the nomination, in an interview with NBC News, saying Gaetz “must be the worst nomination for a cabinet position in American history”.
“Matt Gaetz is not only totally incompetent for this job, he doesn’t have the character. He is a person of moral turpitude.”
Alaskan Republican senator Lisa Murkowski, meanwhile, expressed her shock and doubt at the nomination, telling NBC News, “I don’t think it’s a serious nomination for the Attorney General. We need to have a serious Attorney General. And I’m looking forward to the opportunity to consider somebody that is serious. This one was not on my bingo card.”
One explosive clip that has resurfaced, is of Oklahoma senator Markwayne Mullin speaking to CNN back in April about Gaetz, in which the Republican senator said, “We had all seen the videos he was showing on the House floor … of the girls that he had slept with. He’d brag about how he would crush ED medicine and chase it with an energy drink so he could go all night.”
Gaetz was one of the key people responsible for ousting Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy from his role, but despite having the support of many MAGA Republicans, he may still struggle having his nomination confirmed.
Trump’s nomination of Gaetz, and the consternation it is causing within the Republican Party, could even be news that is consistent with the revelations that “how to change my vote” was a top trend on Google on and after election day last week in red states won by the President-elect.
