Former President Trump shocked and appalled some Republican lawmakers on Wednesday by announcing plans to nominate Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) for attorney general.
Why it matters: Republican reaction to even Trump’s most controversial nominations has been muted so far, but placing the scandal-prone right-winger in the nation’s highest law enforcement role is a step too far for many.
“We wanted him out of the House … this isn’t what we were thinking,” quipped one House Republican, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak frankly about Trump’s decision.
What we’re hearing: Trump’s announcement was met with audible gasps by House Republicans during a conference meeting on Wednesday afternoon, multiple sources in the room told Axios.
One House Republican in the meeting described the conference’s response as “stunned and disgusted.”
What they’re saying: “Gaetz has a better shot at having dinner with Queen Elizabeth II than being confirmed by the senate,” said Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio), referring to the British monarch who died in 2022.
Rep. John Duarte (R-Calif.), noting that Gaetz is under investigation by the House Ethics Committee, said he would be “a compromised AG” and that “there are better choices.”
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said she was “shocked” by the pick: “This shows why the advice and consent process is so important and I’m sure that there will be a lot of questions raised at his hearing.”
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) said Gaetz has “got his work really cut out for him” to get confirmed.
No they’re not. Go into their forums. They are already dismissing the allegations against him.
Conservatives do not care about crimes if it forwards their agenda.
Hey pedophiles stick together
It’s only been a week since he was elected. Dude’s not even in office yet and there’s already shock and scandal coming from his own party. This is going to be a very long four years…
As designed by the media. Eternal despair is great for viewership.
The last time, when he was approaching 100 days in office, someone said that it felt like we were living in dog years. It’s true, this week has been incredibly long and it won’t get better.
I’ve been saying what will keep me alive the next four years is reminding Trump voters they are getting what they voted for every time they start to complain.
But, four years of even Republicans having to fight tooth and nail against his insanity would be even better.
Sorry, dear Americans we in Europe can’t take all of you. Our borders are closed now. Steve Bannon once told us to do so. Sorry!
I’m so tired. I can’t handle another four years of journalism covering the most recent crazy thing he did or proposed every hour. Just a firehose of sneaky, selfish plans and actions.
Thune (just chosen as the new Senate majority leader) has already agreed to recess the Senate so that Trump could appoint whoever he wants without going through the confirmation process by using the recess appointment process. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recess_appointment
Yep. Add that to Trump’s plan to fire all the military generals who won’t swear loyalty to him and surprise! Fascism. (Well I guess it’s not really a surprise.)
Spineless
Wait… why would the leader of the face eating leopard party appoint a LEOPARD to the post of Facial Analysis?
Department Of Getting Eaten
Every conflict-of-interest-laundry-department is gonna be called the same so they can brag about small government.
Sure.
He’ll be confirmed with no problem. They always give Trump whatever he wants.
Want to win a chance at maybe having power? Enter the contest by falling in line and kissing the ring.
If they dare to challenge him Trump will sic his army of sycophantic lunatics on them and they’ll fold. It’s cute that these moronic GOP senators think they get a choice in this.
And they lie. A lot.
Oh good lord.
You know, it’s kind of weird to me that there are republicans stating he won’t be confirmed, which, also has me wondering, does that mean he does not have a senate full of Yes men?
Trump isn’t going to like that, so I assume they will change their mind after a little private one on one meeting with him.
Trump will bully the senators that go against him like he always does
I’m pretty over believing stories about Republicans showing regret about Trump and his picks/actions. I’m 100% this is liberal media copium. Republicans love his ass and every asshole he hires
On the other hand I can see republican politicians pretending to be stunned in order to say one thing and do another. They get to pretend they don’t like it for the political game and then actually support it.
They’ll ALL bend the knee and smoke the pole when it’s presented.
Someone, somewhere wished that Rubio and Gaetz were no longer in Congress.
And the monkey paw curled a finger.
Rubio is probably the least controversial pick so far.
Yeah, at least he probably knew what the job was before he got it.
Careful what you vote for.
Gaetz has a better shot at having dinner with Queen Elizabeth II than being confirmed by the senate,"
Dem senators should help confirm him to help Trump show the nation he wants to burn everything down.
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) said Gaetz has “got his work really cut out for him” to get confirmed.
Trump has already demanded that the Senate go into immediate recess so he can avoid the confirmation process altogether and just appoint them through recess appointments.
It will go the exact same way it did during Trump’s first term: Trump will send out a mean tweet and any dissenters will fall in line. Worked 100% of the time last time.
Yep. I’m curious to see how shocked, stunned and disgusted they really are.
They are going to be so shocked, stunned, and disgusted that they’re going to march right into the Senate chamber and vote the way he fucking told them to vote, but with a really big frowny face. I mean, it’s the strongest message that the United States Congress could possibly send to him. What else are they supposed to do? Vote…against… him? Criticize him…publicly? He might send out a mean tweet on both Twitter and Trump Social. These are politicians we’re talking about here! With cushy jobs and six figure salaries and staff people who have staff people. They can’t handle two mean tweets in one day!
They are all putting on their lip balm and puckering up to kiss his rotten asshole.
It’s just gonna be never ending laughing to keep from crying from here on out.
In other news, the nomination of Matt Gaetz as AG by Donald Trump has moved the Mitt Romney Outrage Meter from “distasteful” to “bothersome”.
How many steps are we away from a furrowed brow?
