Prominent Donald Trump supporters have reacted with anger to reports a number of Republican Senators had planned to oppose Matt Gaetz's confirmation as attorney general, leading the Florida politician to withdraw himself from consideration for the post on Thursday.
Defeated Arizona Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake said there are "far too many politicians" who "seem to think their job is to obstruct their own party's agenda," while prominent pro-Trump X account Catturd labeled Gaetz's reported opponents in Congress "POS [piece of s***] Losers."
Donald Trump's nomination of Gaetz on November 13 was immediately controversial within the Congressional GOP. Critics focused on the Florida Republican's role in unseating former House speaker Kevin McCarthy and an ongoing ethics investigation into sexual misconduct allegations, denied by Gaetz. On Thursday Gaetz said he was withdrawing his name as it is "clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition."
Alluding to potential opposition in the Senate Gaetz wrote: "I had excellent meetings with Senators yesterday. I appreciate their thoughtful feedback—and the incredible support of so many."
Following the November 5 elections, the next Senate will contain 53 Republicans against 47 Democratic aligned Senators. A simple majority is required for Senate confirmation meaning just a handful of GOP rebels voting with the Democrats would have blocked Gaetz's confirmation.
According to The New York Times, four Republican Senators had indicated they could block Gaetz before he made the decision to withdraw. These were outgoing Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell from Kentucky, Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine and Senator-elect John Curtis of Utah. Newsweek reached out for comment to the offices of McConnell, Murkowski, Collins and Curtis via email on Thursday.
Lake, who lost her Arizona Senate race to Democrat Ruben Gallego, said in a post on X, formerly Twitter: "Part of the reason I ran for Senate was to ensure that Trump gets the Cabinet he needs to fulfill his agenda.
"That's what the American people voted for. Unfortunately, far too many politicians who were willing to let Biden's nominees sail through now seem to think their job is to obstruct their own party's agenda."
Lake also shared a photograph of Trump after he survived an assassination attempt in July, writing: "President Trump took a bullet for this country. It's not too much to ask our representatives to take a hard vote."
X user Catturd shared a screenshot of Gaetz's nomination withdrawal announcement, adding: "This sucks - thank the POS RINOs [Republicans in name only] in the Republican Senate for this."
Responding to a fan account for Turning Point founder Charlie Kirk, claiming four Senate Republicans were opposed to Gaetz's confirmation, conservative actor Shawn Farash wrote: "Murkowski has no business being in that seat. Kelly Tshibaka was robbed." In 2022 Trump ally Tshibaka failed to unseat Murkowski in that year's Alaska Senate election.
Eric Daugherty, assistant news director at conservative leaning publication Florida's Voice, commented: "So Trumps 'big ask' strategy is now being executed. After the meetings with senators, looks like the knives would be out for him and a major spectacle was going to be made of this.
"With Trump's 'hammer' of an AG pick out now, he is going to choose a replacement no doubt with a higher chance of confirmation. This will likely please some of the RINOs who were going to make this a big thing.
Newsweek contacted Matt Gaetz for comment via email on Friday outside of regular office hours.
Before his nomination as attorney general, the House Ethics Committee had been investigating claims Gaetz engaged in illicit drug use and sexual misconduct, which he strongly denied. House Speaker Mike Johnson said he was "going to strongly request that the Ethics Committee not issue the report" after Trump selected Gaetz for his cabinet and the Florida Republican stepped down from Congress.
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