By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-11-17 18:58:43 | Updated at 2024-11-17 21:32:30
2 hours ago
A failed Republican House and Senate candidate from Arizona is 'begging' to be the next Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Director, sources familiar with the selection process told DailyMail.com.
Blake Masters has spoken to many close with the transition team and even has Donald Trump's Attorney General pick Matt Gaetz lobbying for his appointment to the agency that falls under the Department of Justice.
Masters initially wanted the White House personnel position, a person close to transition efforts claims. But the role was filled by Sergio Gor.
Meanwhile, a former Trump campaign staffer explained how Masters is going for a 'weaker' position each time one gets filled and is 'making the rounds' to try and get a role in the next administration.
'Truth hurts: The boss doesn't like losers,' the staffer told DailyMail.com of the man who in the last few years lost his bid for the U.S. House and Senate.
Another source says that if Masters can 'make amends… put his ego aside, and lay out a vision to make the country better, I think they'll be able to find a place for him' in the Trump administration.
'Maybe in the end they give him some sort of job as a consolation prize,' they added.
Mar-a-Lago has essentially turned into the set of The Apprentice as several dozen Republicans jockey for Trump to appoint them to a role in his incoming administration.
Blake Masters is 'begging' for a role in Donald Trump's administration and most recently has lobbied to be ATF Director, according to three sources familiar with the matter
Masters has spoken with Trump's Attorney General pick Matt Gaetz to try and get him to push him to be the next ATF Director
And those familiar with the efforts say that Masters spoke with Gaetz directly about trying to convince Trump to name him ATF Director.
Gaetz, who stepped down from Congress hours after Trump's announced him as his pick to lead the DOJ on Wednesday, has advocated for the abolishment of the ATF, which is the domestic law enforcement agency that oversees federal issues related to firearms, explosives, bombs, alcohol and tobacco.
Even before the election on November 5, Masters was gunning to be the ATF boss and was expressing to Trump allies his interest in the top role within the DOJ, according to those familiar with the conversations.
But Masters is a controversial figure within Republican circles after he divided the party during his bitter primary race against Arizona Representative-elect Abraham Hamadeh.
In October 2023, Sen. J.D. Vance, who is now the vice president-elect, endorsed Masters in his House race. Just two months later in December, Trump put his backing behind Abe Hamedeh.
Hamedeh won his primary race against Masters in this summer by 4.2 percent and went on to win the general election. He will be sworn into his congressional seat in January.
Before the election in July, Trump announced that Vance would be his running mate in the 2024 presidential campaign – which put those at the top of the ticket at odds in the Arizona race.
A few years before the 2024 primary that he lost to Hamedeh, Masters also appeared as a political candidate in April 2021 in challenging incumbent Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly for his Arizona Senate seat.
Conservative tech giant Peter Thiel, who is a massive conservative donor and the founder of PayPal, spent approximately $13.5 million trying to get Masters elected to the U.S. Senate in 2022.
Masters lost by about 4.9 percent to Sen. Kelly.
Vance's backing of Masters in the 2024 primary likely came from his loyalty to Thiel.
The VP-elect worked in the tech industry as a venture capitalist after spending two years as an attorney and during that time in San Francisco in 2017 and 2018 he served as a principal at Thiel's firm Mithril Capital.
Trump endorsed Representative-elect Abe Hamadeh in his primary race against Masters, but two years prior he had backed Masters when he was running for Arizona's Senate seat. Pictured: Trump and Masters shake hands at a rally in Mesa, Arizona on October 9, 2022 during Masters' run for Senate
Republicans see Masters as valuable when it comes to the tech world and his connections to investors.
Some are worried it won't translate to a government role.
Even if Masters did get the ATF position, it's unclear what role that would play in the next White House as Gaetz has previously advocated for the abolishment of the agency.
In 2021, Gaetz, then a U.S. representative, filed legislation to get rid of the federal government's gun regulatory agency and spend the money saved on victims of the agency's 'gun-walking' program.
Those close with the transition and familiar with Trump's selection process say that Marine veteran Derek Herrera, who was paralyzed from the chest down by a sniper's bullet in Afghanistan and now works to advance medical technology, is a top contender for the role of ATF director.
