Trump Hits Home Run with Gaetz Replacement for Attorney General

Only days after being nominated as attorney general, Matt Gaetz withdrew his name.

It took no time at all for Trump to replace him, naming former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Gaetz Withdraws

The moment Donald Trump named Matt Gaetz his AG, people started to scratch their heads, even more so when Gaetz immediately resigned his congressional seat.

Gaetz then claimed that he resigned his seat so Governor DeSantis could fill it before the next session, but it soon became apparent the more likely reason was that Gaetz was worried about an Ethics Committee investigation.

The committee was looking into claims that Gaetz had sex with an underage girl, and even though the DOJ had investigated this with no charges, the general feeling was the report was going to hurt Gaetz.

There was apparent resistance to Gaetz among GOP Senators, so Gaetz used the excuse that his nomination was “unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition.” He added, “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.”

Trump Names Replacement

Trump immediately named former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi as Gaetz’s replacement, and while she will be challenged by Democrats, I expect her to get through the nomination process.

Ironically, had Trump and DeSantis not had a rift, I believe Florida’s current Attorney General, Ashley Moody, would have been a frontrunner for this position, but I am not exactly upset with Bondi.

While some think this appointment is coming from left field, Bondi represented Trump during his impeachment hearing while working for Ballard Partners. She was also named to the board of trustees for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts during the Trump administration.

Bondi will be challenged by Democrats, though, as she has supported Trump’s claim of election fraud in 2020 as well as the allegations made about Joe and Hutner Biden’s business dealings.

Was This All Planned?

In a previous report, I questioned if this nomination by Trump was genuine or if he was giving Gaetz an out, and it would appear that I am not alone in this. My theory was that Trump wanted to help Gaetz get out of his pickle with the Ethics Committee, so he appointed Gaetz, giving him an excuse to resign, thereby burying the Ethics report. Knowing Gaetz would get resistance, his nomination was never really authentic, and he would be rewarded for his loyalty with a post that would not require Senate approval.

Conservative radio host Dana Loesch worked this premise, but with the narrative that Trump merely wanted to get Gaetz out of the way. On her radio show, she claimed, “[Trump] He knows he’s not going to get the seat, or get confirmed, nominates him anyway, and then lets the public in the process do what they do. Take care of it for you, right? Let them handle it for you. Then you can stand back [and say], ‘Hey, look, I’m being loyal to the guy. I picked him for the seat. It’s tough. Tough stuff that it didn’t work out.'

“It’s a brilliant move. It’s literally the exact same thing I would do. If I was in the position where I needed to get rid of somebody that was causing me problems, but hadn’t taken a stance against me publicly, that’s what I would do.”

Gaetz could conceivably run in the special election for his seat, but I just don’t see that happening. As I stated prior, I think this was a way for him to get out, save face, and keep that report buried. Eventually, I think we will see him pop up in the Trump administration, that is unless he decides to turn into a pundit for Fox News to help Trump push his policies to the American people.