Gaetz, 42, was representing Florida’s 1st Congressional District up until the moment he was nominated for attorney general, then he abruptly announced he was stepping down from that public office.
Talking about the selection of Gaetz on American Family Radio, podcaster Sandy Rios said she was “thrilled” Trump chose Gaetz.
“He is a force of nature,” she said, referring to his grilling of FBI Director Chris Wray at House hearings. “He has been relentless. He is skilled. He's brilliant.”
Much like Rios’ description of a fearless lawmaker, some are describing a future Attorney General Gaetz as a “wrecking ball” for Trump who will turn Washington’s deep-state corruption upside down.
“We need people who are going to go in and make bad people uncomfortable,” Jesse Kelly, a First TV talk show host, wrote in an X post.
Gaetz is also openly despised on Capitol Hill, which is why news reports said there were audible gasps when lawmakers learned he was Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Justice.
The now-former congressman has also made headlines for being the target of an FBI investigation, and a House ethics committee, that accused him of drug use and having sex with underage women. That second accusation was linked to a Republican ally, Joel Greenberg, a county tax collector who is now serving time in prison in a plea deal with federal prosecutors over sex trafficking.
Even though the federal prosecution of Greenberg was likely an attempt to charge Gaetz, too, the congressman emerged from the multi-year FBI investigation without any charges filed against him, and he has said that investigation and House ethics investigation are a political witch hunt to hurt him.
Jenna Ellis, the former Trump attorney, diplomatically staked out a pro-vs-con position on Trump nominating the controversial congressman.
The criticism of Gaetz, she told AFR, is that he is unqualified to lead the DOJ and his nomination is akin to a “joke” to even consider him for attorney general.
“And then, on the pro side, it's all about draining the swamp,” she observed, “and saying, ‘If you want to get rid of these DOJ kind of elites, and the people who are the career politicians that are within the DOJ, then of course put someone like Matt Gaetz in who himself has been a target of lawfare.'”
Regardless of whether which side is right, Ellis said, everyone agrees his Senate confirmation will be a challenge.
