Don’t Count Out Matt Gaetz

“Gaetz won’t get confirmed, everybody knows that,” Kevin McCarthy said Thursday. That’s what many in Washington are telling themselves after President-elect Donald Trump’s shocking announcement that he would nominate Matt Gaetz to be attorney general. One House Republican, after hearing about the pick, was laughing so hard that he had to wipe away tears.

But Gaetz’s latest moment in the spotlight is in many ways emblematic of his entire career. He is often dismissed as a clown or a self-promoter or a bomb thrower who couldn’t possibly continue his ascent.

Then he keeps winning. That’s why McCarthy is the former, not current, House speaker. And that’s why it’s far too soon to say Gaetz won’t ultimately become the top law enforcement officer of the United States.

Gaetz has often been underestimated. He had a relatively cushy upbringing and his path to politics was smoothed by his father. Don Gaetz, known among Florida politics-watchers as “Papa” Gaetz, is the former president of Florida’s state Senate and made a small fortune in the health care industry. The Gaetz family owns the house in Florida where “The Truman Show” was shot and went on vacation there when Matt was young; perhaps that’s where he learned all about what it means to be perceived on television by a lot of people who don’t know you.

Gaetz was elected to the Florida House of Representatives at the age of 27 and the U.S. House when he was 34. He could have lived happily as a political scion and a backbencher in Congress, getting comfy in a safe Republican seat for the rest of his life.

Instead, he staked his fortunes on Trump and quickly captured a restless energy at the center of the MAGA base. His fiery approach and no-holds-barred ambition have largely paid off in Trump world, even as it infuriated his colleagues on Capitol Hill.

“No one can stand him at this point. He’s a smart guy with no morals,” one Republican told Fox’s Jacqui Heinrich in the days leading up to his ouster of McCarthy.

The anonymous lawmaker clearly meant the quote as a jab against their Florida colleague, but it also serves as a simple assessment of Gaetz’s political strengths.

He doesn’t mind ire sent his direction and in fact courts it when he thinks it can be helpful to him. He has few scruples about shivving other members of his party to get ahead. And he’s a capable operator.

All of that was on display when he became Trump’s pick for attorney general after initially not even being on the shortlist, according to POLITICO Playbook. En route to Washington on Trump’s plane with Gaetz on board, Trump ally Boris Epshteyn lobbied Trump to choose Gaetz while Trump’s chief of staff Susie Wiles sat blissfully unaware of the development in an adjacent room.

In his statement nominating Gaetz, Trump called him a “tenacious” attorney (he briefly practiced at a northwest Florida law firm and also briefly had his license suspended for unpaid fees) who “will root out the systemic corruption at DOJ, and return the Department to its true mission of fighting Crime, and upholding our Democracy and Constitution.”

Trump, looking for a pit bull to attack his enemies, saw one in Gaetz, who fashioned himself into one of Trump’s chief defenders during his almost eight years in Congress.

“We should never, ever dismiss the fact that he’s bright and eloquent,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer, a North Dakota Republican who also questioned Gaetz’s ability to be confirmed by the Senate. “He can litigate, and he’s proven it many, many times. And he’s loyal to Donald Trump, which is not unimportant.”

At the same time, he’s been the subject of multiple ethics inquiries and a federal investigation into potential sex trafficking. He appears to have abruptly resigned from Congress to quash the release of a damaging report from the House Ethics Committee related to allegations that he illegally used drugs, accepted improper gifts and engaged in sexual misconduct.

Some Senate Republicans seem uneasy with the nomination, and not just the likes of Susan Collins. GOP Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said Thursday he “absolutely” wants to see the Ethics report.

Plenty of Gaetz’s colleagues find it impossible to believe he’ll be confirmed. But they also found it impossible to believe he’d get this far in the first place.

Gaetz and Trump may be banking on the notion that Senate Republicans’ need to show loyalty to Trump will override any lingering concerns with Gaetz’ fitness for the job. It may be the right bet.

Last year, Sen. Markwayne Mullin called Gaetz a “liar” who would “brag about how he would crush ED [erectile dysfunction] medicine and chase it with an energy drink so he could go all night” and who was “living off daddy’s money.”

But when POLITICO Magazine spoke to the Oklahoma Republican in the corridors of the Capitol on Thursday, Mullin sounded quite a bit more conciliatory.

“I can personally object to someone, but I can still work with them if I think they’re qualified to do the job,” he said, adding that he had to Google to see if Gaetz was even an attorney. “The biggest qualification is, does the president think he can do the job? And the president believes he can do the job.”