Posted on 11/22/2024 5:29:57 AM PST by RoosterRedux
Barely a week after he was announced as President-elect Donald Trump's choice for U.S. attorney general, MAGA firebrand Matt Gaetz has withdrawn himself from contention for the post.
...
Later on Thursday, after Gaetz announced his withdrawal from contention for attorney general, Trump announced he is now selecting Pam Bondi, the former two-term Florida attorney general, as his pick for U.S. attorney general.
...
But the rapidity with which Trump announced Bondi after Gaetz withdrew his own nomination does add further cause for speculation: Was all this planned all along? Was this elaborate exercise in musical chairs an actual instance of Trumpian "4-D chess"?
Maybe. The reality was that there was little to no chance that Gaetz was ever going to get confirmed. He is too controversial, has made too many enemies, has too many alleged skeletons in his closet, and was always going to lack any GOP establishment support. It really does seem likelier than not that Trump named Gaetz for attorney general to give him a viable off-ramp from the House, allowing him to salvage his reputation from the menacing House Ethics Committee report and permitting him to more freely seek his next post -- quite possibly governor of Florida.
From Trump's perspective, he has thus killed two birds with one stone. First, he has demonstrated reciprocal loyalty to an arch-MAGA loyalist, Gaetz, and permitted him the ability to play his difficult political hand as well as he could possibly have played it. Second, Bondi's confirmation fight now looks like a genuine breeze. The Gaetz announcement caught so many off-guard, ruffled so many feathers and was vociferously opposed by so many that anyone -- literally anyone -- who Trump picked next, after the Gaetz nomination inevitably failed, would have looked calm, cool and sober by comparison.
(Excerpt) Read more at realclearpolitics.com ...
I suspect it was done to find out who were Trump’s friends and who was his enemies.... Only thing that makes sense and was a smart move.
Trump testing the waters. They all knew that Gaetz could resign from the current House and still be elected into the next House. Bondi’s much more likely to be put in and Trump probably was saying to Mitch, “Well, would you vote for Pam Bondi?” when Mitch was saying he wouldn’t vote for Gaetz.
The Senate is a treacherous place filled with some of the worst traitors in the Federal Government.
I said from the start that Gaetz was not a serious pick. There’s almost nothing about that guy that I would ever take seriously … though I do find him entertaining and would have loved to see him as a wrecking-ball AG.
Exactly. Getz was a stalking horse.
Matt would have done a good job. Pam will do a good job.
Dana Loesch had a great analysis of it and I tend to agree with her.
Basically, it was a move to isolate Gaetz from the campaign as a liability while trolling the left.
Interesting. Thanks for posting. I know “it’s a complicated business”, but are there any virtuous individuals in politics?
I doubt Faetz would allow himself to be used amd publicly embarrassed by doing this.
I take him seriously and I think he takes the country very seriously.
I suspect Trump has another role for Getz...he used him to smoke out the evil doers...Senators should be blackballed.
Gaetz has been very good to Trump and to MAGA. If this is true, my opinion of Trump will change dramatically.
I’ve never met one. The job seems to attract sociopaths.
I think he would as it would be for the cause as what he did was extremely valuable service!
So much copium. The Gaetz affair was a blunder by Trump & Co. from the get-go. All that has come from it is the impression is that Trump is weak, that he won't fight for his people, and that he will acquiesce to the Deep State, not fight against it.
That's the impression that has been left, regardless of how some may seek to spin it. Is it also the reality? As to that, of course, time will tell. Early days yet.
Caveat: Some are better than others. ASome are just plain evil.
I’m convinced for certain. Gaetz was sacrificed to allow a woman to follow.
If Trump does this. I am out. This would truly infuriate me. It is the one way to destroy all that we have dreamed of.
I will not support it and he would get no kudos from me.
https://x.com/nicksortor/status/1859785384538013973/photo/1
I’d really like to se Byron Donalds get a promotion out of this shuffle. He has earned it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.