What Was the Matt Gaetz Attorney General Pick Really About? (4-D chess?)

By Free Republic | Created at 2024-11-22 13:39:32 | Updated at 2024-11-22 18:55:49 5 hours ago

What Was the Matt Gaetz Attorney General Pick Really About? (4-D chess?)
RealClearPolitics ^ | Josh Hammer

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he was announced as President-elect Donald Trump's choice for U.S. attorney general, MAGA firebrand Matt Gaetz has withdrawn himself from contention for the post.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 ...

TOPICS: News/Current Events; US: Florida
KEYWORDS: bondi; gaetz

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1 posted on 11/22/2024 5:29:57 AM PST by RoosterRedux

To: RoosterRedux

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.

2 posted on 11/22/2024 5:31:22 AM PST by dpetty121263

To: RoosterRedux

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.

3 posted on 11/22/2024 5:32:06 AM PST by struggle

To: RoosterRedux

The Senate is a treacherous place filled with some of the worst traitors in the Federal Government.

4 posted on 11/22/2024 5:33:38 AM PST by dpetty121263

To: RoosterRedux

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.

5 posted on 11/22/2024 5:35:57 AM PST by Alberta's Child ("Well, maybe I'm a little rough around the edges; inside a little hollow.” -- Tom Petty, “Rebels”)

To: dpetty121263

Exactly. Getz was a stalking horse.

6 posted on 11/22/2024 5:38:04 AM PST by Blueflag (To not carry is to choose to be defenseless.)

To: RoosterRedux

Matt would have done a good job. Pam will do a good job.

7 posted on 11/22/2024 5:38:22 AM PST by rktman (Destroy America from within ? Check! WTH? Enlisted USN 1967 to end up with this💩? 🚫💉! 🇮🇱👍!)

To: RoosterRedux

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.

8 posted on 11/22/2024 5:38:38 AM PST by logi_cal869 (-cynicus the "concern troll" a/o 10/03/2018 /!i!! &@$%&*(@ -)

To: RoosterRedux

Interesting. Thanks for posting. I know “it’s a complicated business”, but are there any virtuous individuals in politics?

9 posted on 11/22/2024 5:38:46 AM PST by PGalt (Past Peak Civilization?)

To: dpetty121263

I doubt Faetz would allow himself to be used amd publicly embarrassed by doing this.

10 posted on 11/22/2024 5:38:54 AM PST by vivenne

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