Matt Gaetz as attorney general: ‘A massive middle finger’ from Donald Trump
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Donald Trump has named Matt Gaetz as his nominee for attorney general, causing shockwaves among Democrats and Republicans alike.
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In brief…
- Florida representative Matt Gaetz has been named as Donald Trump’s nomination as attorney general, the highest legal position in the US.
- The nomination caused shockwaves, with The News Agents suggesting this could be a loyalty test from Trump to see which Republicans are willing to follow every decision he makes.
- They also believe Gaetz would work to free people jailed for the Capital insurrection and seek to take down those who have brought charges against Trump.
What's the story?
"Are you shi**ing me?"
That was the alleged response of Idaho's Republican congressman Mike Simpson when Matt Gaetz was announced as Donald Trump's nominee for attorney general.
It's safe to say the announcement has raised a few eyebrows.
In 2023 Gaetz, the now-former House representative for Florida’s first congressional district, led the successful movement to remove Kevin McCarthy as Republican House speaker.
During his political career he has voted against criminalising revenge porn, promoted the white nationalist 'great replacement theory', invited a Holocaust denier to attend Trump's State of the Union address, and repeated claims that the result of the 2020 election was fraudulent.
Gaetz has faced allegations of child sex trafficking, among other investigations for other sexual misconduct and drug use – but has never been convicted of any of these crimes, and has strongly denied all claims against him.
But the far-right 42-year-old, who has legal qualifications and briefly practised law before moving into politics, has always backed Trump, and his new role is seen by many as a reward for his loyalty.
“He worked as a lawyer for less than two years, and he now could be the highest legal mind in the land,” says Emily Maitlis.
A statement from Trump describes him as a "deeply gifted and tenacious" attorney, and that few issues in America are more important to the next president than "ending the partisan weaponisation" of the US justice system.
It also praises Gaetz’s role in discrediting any suggestion that Russian interference played a part in the 2016 election.
He has described the nomination as "an honour".
'Matt Gaetz's nomination a massive middle finger from Trump'
What's the response to Gaetz's nomination been?
The congressman from Idaho wasn't the only Republican to share his shock at Gaetz appointment to such a senior role.
Alaska senator Lisa Murkowski told NBC News she does not consider it a "serious nomination" for the attorney general role.
"We need to have a serious attorney general," she added.
"And I’m looking forward to the opportunity to consider somebody that is serious. This one was not on my bingo card."
Max Miller, Republican congressman of Ohio, told Politico Gaetz is a "reckless pick" and says he has a "zero percent shot" of taking up the role.
A statement from Vice President Kamala Harris claimed Gaetz would "weaponise" the Department of Justice to protect Trump and his allies.
Fox News regular (and former director of strategy for David Cameron during his time as PM) Steve Hilton tells The News Agents that he's seen a deeper side to Gaetz, that most people wouldn't expect to find.
"I was really struck by his immediate reaction from a pretty deep and thoughtful policy perspective about how you need to reform health care, the corruption that's involved with the insurance companies paying off legislators," he says of speaking with Gaetz on a podcast.
"It's really interesting to me that he actually thinks about policy in a deep way that definitely doesn't come across in a lot of his political interventions. He is a deeper character than how he presents himself.
"His reputation is as a political firebrand, he delights in that kind of reputation, and has certainly contributed to building it."
Mike Johnson, the Republican House Speaker has praised Gaetz as an “accomplished attorney”, describing him as a “reformer” and saying “he'll bring a lot to the table on that.”
'Would you vote to approve Matt Gaetz as attorney general?'
What’s The News Agents’ take?
In preparation for his potential new role, Gaetz has stepped down from his role in the House, meaning that the Ethics Committee investigation into his activities comes to an end.
It has fueled theories about his appointment, and how he might benefit from it.
“I think the real story of this is what it tells us about Trump's approach to the Department of Justice, which is essentially that he doesn't want pushback from his attorney general,” says Emily.
“He wants submission.”
Gaetz has previously visited people imprisoned for their role in the Capitol insurrection in 2021, who Trump has referred to as “hostages”.
“Gaetz will probably work to free them,” Emily adds.
“If he is the attorney general, he will probably work hard to go after the people that Donald Trump wants to go after for their own investigations into Trump.
“He will make sure that all the legal cases surrounding Trump go away.”
But first Gaetz needs his nomination approved in the US senate, just four 'no' votes from his Republican colleagues (along with a unified opposition from the Democratic Party) would prevent him taking on the attorney general role.
Jon Sopel says that even if Gaetz’s nomination is blocked, Trump will still emerge the winner with his voters, who will back his claims that he was prevented from implementing his will as President.
“He'll tell his MAGA supporters Matt Gaetz is who he wanted, and that's pure red meat for the Trump base,” he adds.
Emily suggests it could equally all be a loyalty test to take Republicans "to the edge of the cliff" and see who jumps in support of the Gaetz nomination.
“I have to say I was lying in bed laughing at the news on the midnight bulletin, because this is clearly just a massive middle finger up,” she says.
“It is the ultimate crash test dummy experiment. Like he’s going to take this Lamborghini – the mandate – and ram it as hard as he can into a brick wall.”
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