CNN
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For Donald Trump, every defeat is just a catalyst for the next battle.
Trump came just as the president-elect suffered his first major upset since re-election when scandal-plagued attorney general nominee Matt Gaetz withdrew Thursday after his pursuit of sexual misconduct allegations steadily worsened for several days. The momentum has doubled.
Trump chose former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to replace Gaetz. Mr. Bondi is also an ultra-loyal MAGA warrior and one of the most outspoken in his belief that the American judiciary has been weaponized against him.
Gaetz, who denies wrongdoing, may be gone, but President Trump’s desire for the Justice Department to act more like his own personal legal team than an independent guardian of the law , showing signs of remaining intact.
At first glance, Mr. Gates’ withdrawal was an embarrassing defeat, as he lost a battle with Republican senators who did not like the dilemma that would arise from voting for Mr. Gates or voting against Mr. Trump. Sources told CNN that the president-elect wanted Gates because he shared his desire to purge “deep state” opponents within the Justice Department and was completely loyal to him. It is. But Trump forgot another necessary quality. That means his choices won’t offend the senators he needs to keep on his side as they look ahead to the next election campaign.
The Gaetz disaster suggests that some of the laws of political gravity still apply to Mr. Trump, despite his landslide electoral victory.
There was an arrogance on Trump’s part to choose perhaps the least qualified, most controversial, and most hated nominee for attorney general in modern history. His other cabinet picks, some of whom would be completely unqualified by normal standards, also appear to be the typical overreach and misreading of the mandate that could land a new president in trouble. .
The haphazard decision-making and lack of scrutiny that led to Gates’ selection (sources say President Trump settled on Gates on a flight to and from Washington last week) may mean his second term is short-lived. This is not to suggest that it will be much more disciplined than the term. And choosing a candidate whose primary qualifications are sure to please Trump’s base and terrify elites highlights the president-elect’s impulsiveness.
But given Mr. Trump’s omnipotence within the Republican Party and the party’s refusal to convict him in his two impeachment trials, the Senate Republican majority’s new This means that it would be unwise to see the new, all-powerful president as a harbinger of a desire to rein in him. Some senators, whose constitutional honor is fulfilled and who feel an obligation to their party leaders, may be more willing to support Mr. Trump’s other provocative picks.
And the loss of Gates – Trump said Thursday that the man has a “great future,” but it likely won’t affect his goals for a second term in office, which Trump has vowed to focus on retribution.
Manu Raju explains why Gates withdrawal is a relief for Republicans
Scandal surrounding Trump’s nomination reflects Trump’s own legal quagmire
The administration of the White House always reflects the person at the top.
This may explain why, two and a half weeks into the transition, several of Mr. Trump’s Cabinet nominees are embroiled in allegations of sexual misconduct, ethics and legal controversy.
Former Fox News anchor Pete Hegseth, who was nominated by President Trump to the Pentagon, is facing new revelations about his alleged sexual assault of a woman in California seven years ago. Like Gaetz, Hegseth was not charged with the charges and denies any wrongdoing. But his lawyers say the Iraq and Afghanistan combat veteran considers the encounter to be consensual, but has signed a settlement agreement with his accuser that includes undisclosed payments and confidentiality clauses. Ta.
Hear Pete Hegseth’s response to sexual assault allegations
As more clouds gather over Trump’s Cabinet appointments, CNN reported Thursday that Linda McMahon, the president-elect’s bid to become Secretary of Education, knowingly enabled the sexual exploitation of children by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). reported on the lawsuit. ) was already an employee in the 1980s. Mr. McMahon denies the charges.
There are new allegations that Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services, groped a part-time babysitter who worked for him from 1998 to 1999. It is being scrutinized. Eliza Cooney, a woman, recently said: She told USA Today, “I wish they’d elected people with fewer skeletons in their closets.” In a podcast interview over the summer, Kennedy refused to acknowledge the allegations first raised by Vanity Fair, but went on to say that he had a “very naughty youth” and was not a “church boy.” said. Asked directly if he denied sexually assaulting Cooney, Kennedy reiterated, “I’m not going to comment on that.”
In a normal administration, this wave of scandals surrounding multiple appointments would be seen as evidence of a chaotic transition.
But Trump’s political career has never followed a traditional pattern. Chaos is endemic, where the next president thrives outside of impunity. Trump’s own history of legal battles and sexual misconduct allegations, all of which have been denied, may mean that such weaknesses in others are less of a hindrance to his career than other presidents.
Last year, for example, a federal jury in Manhattan found in a civil case that Trump sexually abused author E. Jean Carroll in a department store in 1996 and awarded her damages for assault and defamation. I put it down. Just before the 2016 election, Trump boasted in a leaked “Access Hollywood” tape that celebrities like himself could grab women’s genitals and that “they’ll let us do it.” And earlier this year, Trump was convicted of a felony in a case stemming from hush money payments to an adult film star. He has denied wrongdoing in all cases. None of that prevented him from winning a historic second term earlier this month.
President Trump’s ability to refute these allegations is rare for such a public figure since the Me Too movement exposed years of abuse of women in entertainment, media, politics and business. And his defiant attitude is woven into the selection of ministers and his commitment to stick with them, despite some allegations already being made public or newly available information since then. There is a possibility that there are.
The allegations against Trump have long been ignored by voters, many of whom believe he is the subject of a witch hunt by Democratic prosecutors. Social conservatives, on the other hand, sometimes justify their doubts about his personal ethics and conduct by pointing to the Supreme Court majority he built.
But Gaetz’s fall from office as attorney general suggests that President Trump’s Teflon skin is inalienable and that his MAGA apprentices lack the ability to survive almost any scandal. Mr. Hegseth, who held multiple meetings with senators on Thursday, may be next to try the challenge.
Although they are supporters of Trump’s rhetoric and stunt politics, neither Gaetz nor Hegseth has the power or political aura to intimidate shaky Republicans into collusion. And Gaetz is notoriously unpopular on Capitol Hill.
CNN’s Kristen Holmes reported that Trump called Gates on Thursday morning and told him he didn’t have the votes to confirm him, according to a person with direct knowledge of the call. The president-elect did not instruct Gaetz to resign, the person said. But Gaetz was facing pressure from a showdown in Congress over a House Ethics Committee report into allegations of sexual misconduct and drug abuse against him.
A woman who said she had a sexual relationship with Gaetz when she was a minor told the Ethics Committee that she had two sexual encounters with Gaetz at a party in 2017, according to a person familiar with her testimony. Shortly after CNN’s Paula Reid and Sarah Ferris reported it, he retracted it. The woman, who was 17 at the time, testified that the second encounter included another adult woman.
Gaetz wrote in X that his predicament was “unfairly hindering the important work of the Trump/Vance transition,” expressing the classic sentiment of a Cabinet nominee who lost a confirmation battle.
The end of Trump’s battle for one of the most important jobs in his Cabinet has left Trump with controversial names such as Hegseth, former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard chosen to be director of national intelligence, and Kennedy. Excitement surrounding the selection of cabinet ministers rapidly increased. .
The political implications of Gates’ failed confirmation campaign, which failed two months before he was formally nominated as the new president, are interesting but remain difficult to resolve.
However, this is unlikely to hurt the president-elect’s talent among his most loyal supporters. And the storm and stress of Trumpism is sure to produce countless political upheavals and scandals before and after Inauguration Day, and Gaetz’s chapter will be seen as a minor incident in a long melodrama. There are many presidents who do well even if they are stripped of their Cabinet nominations.
On Capitol Hill, there was a sense of relief among Senate Republicans that there would be no nomination vote early next year. Some may have feared a vote against Trump, which could lead to challenges in the primaries. Others, including Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, may have worried that Gates’ confirmation vote could hurt his re-election bid in 2026. do not have.
But Gaetz’s withdrawal does not bode well for Vice President-elect J.D. Vance, the Ohio senator whom President Trump nominated this week to join Gaetz in lobbying his colleagues.
And, true to form, by choosing Bondi, Trump selected another person dedicated to doing his boss’s job of sounding the alarm on the D.C. establishment and attacking the Justice Department as well. Ms. Bondi herself had her share of controversy. She once denied that a $25,000 charitable donation from President Trump had anything to do with her decision not to file a lawsuit against Trump University.
But she has one thing Gaetz lacks: Her support is likely to be much higher in the Republican-controlled Senate next year.
