Well, that was certainly…interesting…to say the least. No one thought we’d see the day when we’d see, of all people, Congressman Matt Gaetz of Florida being nominated for any position in the cabinet. Even more shocking was the office he was nominated for: United States Attorney General.
Throughout his career, he’s been the center of various controversies, which include alleged pedophilia, human trafficking, his moves to remove the then-Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy, for working with Democrats to prevent a government shutdown, and most famously, his rhetoric, which has been frequently compared to fascism by the media.
However, what was not shocking to many was the end result: he officially withdrew from consideration from the office he was nominated for on November 21st, citing President-elect Trump calling Gaetz to inform him he didn’t have the votes in the Senate to be confirmed to the post. It is likely that four Republican Senators have effectively killed the nomination: Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, and Kevin Cramer of North Dakota.
What has further hurt Gaetz is that he resigned from Congress almost immediately after receiving word of his nomination. There are two likely reasons: firstly, he resigned in a display of premature confidence in his nomination, given the new GOP Senate Majority coming in January; or he resigned due to a report being made by the House Ethics Committee regarding the previously mentioned pedophilia, which was reportedly close to completion.
The Committee allegedly heard testimony from one of his apparent victims, who was 17 at the time of the incidents they were investigating, so in that case, it’s easy to imagine him resigning because of that. It doesn’t help that multiple GOP Senators, including John Cornyn of Texas, have publicly demanded to see the report in order to help them determine if they’ll vote in favor or not. What is most likely, however, is a mix of the two reasons, both premature confidence and fear from the release of the report.
So, at least at this moment, Gaetz’s political career can be considered over. As previously stated, most people likely saw this coming. So that poses the question: why did President-elect Trump nominate him anyway? Why did he, knowing that Gaetz is one of the few people in this country who is even more controversial than he is, nominate him to be Attorney General? Why did he nominate Gaetz, knowing his nomination was likely going to be dead as soon as it was made? There are some theories being tossed around at the moment. What are some of these theories?
Loyalty Test
It is no secret that Trump had his problems with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. However, he won’t have to engage with him on that level for much longer. McConnell, in the early stages of the campaign season, indicated that he intended to retire from his post as leader of the Senate GOP. In their conference after the elections, Senate Minority Whip John Thune of South Dakota was voted in as the designated Senate Majority Leader and will take up that post upon the opening of the next session of Congress, on January 3rd, 2025.
However, in the past, Trump’s had some disputes with Thune, even attempting to convince Governor Kristi Noem to campaign against him in his seat’s primary at one point. So, naturally, Trump would feel unsteady about his selection. He’d need a loyalty test of his dedication to the MAGA cause in order to put him at ease.
Trump could’ve possibly come to the conclusion that there is no better way to test Thune’s loyalty than by nominating one of the most polarizing politicians of the age to a high position in the cabinet to see if he’s willing to whip up enough votes to get him through.
Gaetz’s Own Loyalty
Gaetz’s career has been marked by unyielding public loyalty to Donald Trump, even if it means hurting the overall party’s image and cause. Trump is known to highly value loyalty in those who advise him on political and business matters. In his previous administration, his cabinet and officials were rife with resignations and worked against his more ambitious agenda from the inside, including the infamous whistleblower. His cabinet picks so far have indicated he is not interested in dealing with that again. In order to prevent that, he needs loyal people on the inside, and that’s who Gaetz happens to be—a loyal foot soldier to carry out his plans.
Trump’s Potential Agenda
Gaetz’s nomination could’ve also indicated something else: Trump could’ve had an intended agenda that only Gaetz would be willing to carry out. Perhaps Trump does actually intend to carry out Project 2025 instead of Agenda 47. Project 2025 involves significant manipulation of the nation’s legal system, and not many people would’ve been willing to do that. But who would plausibly be willing to do so?
Matt Gaetz.
As previously stated, he is unyieldingly loyal to Trump. Trump has already appointed a few people associated with the creation of Project 2025 and the Heritage Foundation in general. So, all he would need is a loyal Attorney General to carry out his whims.
What could’ve made Gaetz even more enthusiastic in his duties are his previous encounters with the Department of Justice, being previously investigated by them for the pedophilia the House Ethics Committee was investigating him for. Someone in his shoes could’ve possibly sought revenge against those in charge of investigating him, and as Attorney General, he’d be able to do that.
Loyalty via Blackmail
Back to the topic of loyalty, some people have pointed out multiple cabinet nominees of Trump have a shady history, especially with sexual accusations. Gaetz is included in this group of nominees. With this in mind, these people have proposed that Trump intends to use their shady history as a sort of blackmail to maintain loyalty within the cabinet.
The theory is that Trump has the inner details of their cases and isn’t afraid to discreetly publicize that information if they ever even think of breaking with him. Gaetz is no different. After all, he’s young, ambitious, and could easily get too big for his breeches. It wouldn’t be surprising, therefore, that Trump would need something to use against him in case he got too ambitious for his liking.
The one thing known to almost always kill a political career is a sex scandal, and Trump would not have to do much digging to find a couple in Gaetz’s records. There’s the alleged pedophilia in the past, and it was also recently uncovered that he might’ve solicited a 19-year-old woman for sex while at a party in Florida, where prostitution is illegal as of the time of this article’s publishing.
Gaetz has long claimed the accusations against him are an extortion plot, but the evidence is quite clear, even without an indictment. Trump is likely aware of this, and he is known to take advantage of these sorts of things. He isn’t only doing this with Gaetz. He nominated Governor Kristi Noem of South Dakota to be his Secretary of Homeland Security. She’s been under fire for killing one of her dogs, which she revealed in a book she published.
She’s also been banned from a large fraction of her own state due to native nations forbidding her onto their land. This whole situation has been held above her head ever since. Trump could be easily using it to cow her into compliance in case she steers off the course he desires during his second term.
Conclusion
While it’s likely Trump is aware of the accusations against Gaetz and knew his nomination was futile, ultimately, he doesn’t do anything without a reason. There was very likely a practical purpose to his nomination. We are likely not to know the true reason until decades pass; however, the media believes a test of John Thune’s loyalty to Trump is the most plausible.
Gaetz’s own loyalty, while valuable, was probably not the primary reason behind the appointment. While there has been less attention to the blackmail theory by the mainstream media, once one looks at Trump’s cabinet list, one begins to wonder if it actually could be possible. Nevertheless, it was an appointment that was scheduled to die from day one, and there is very likely nothing that Vice President-elect Vance or Gaetz could’ve done to get it through the Senate despite their majority.
But for now, we’ll have the former Attorney General of Florida, Pam Bondi, as our next US Attorney General.
