Former national security adviser John Bolton ripped the nomination of Rep. Matt Gaetz as attorney general as the worst “in American history” — while ex-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is adamant that “everybody knows” Gaetz “won’t get confirmed.”
“Well, it must be the worst nomination for a cabinet position in American history,” Bolton, a key adviser to President-elect Donald Trump during his first term in office, told NBC’s “Meet the Press NOW” Wednesday.
“Gaetz is not only totally incompetent for this job, he doesn’t have the character,” Bolton added. “He is a person of moral turpitude, and notwithstanding how difficult it may be politically, this is a nomination the Republican Party should oppose.”
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, meanwhile, suggested the nomination was so bad that Gaetz likely won’t make it to office..
“The choices are very good so far, except one,” McCarthy told Bloomberg of Trump’s other selections.
“Gaetz won’t get confirmed. Everybody knows that,” he said firmly.
The evisceration of Gaetz came just hours after Trump stunned his own party by revealing he had selected the Florida Rep and fierce MAGA loyalist, who was facing a sex trafficking probe, to serve as his attorney general.
Gaetz resigned from the House “effective immediately” in the wake of Trump’s shock announcement — bringing an end to the House Ethics Committee’s ongoing investigation into allegations he was part of a scheme that led to the sex trafficking of a 17-year-old girl.
The nomination of Gaetz, who denied any wrongdoing and wasn’t charged, stunned some GOP lawmakers and repulsed others.
Still, Bolton — who served in the first Trump administration for 17 months before he was fired over foreign policy disagreements — wasn’t convinced Republicans would argue against Gaetz’s nomination because they could be “intimidated by Trump.”
“I think it may never come to a vote on the floor if the new leadership in the Senate goes to the president and says, ‘You cannot endanger Republican senators by forcing them to vote in favor of this nomination. And if you don’t want to have a real internal party battle, this nomination needs to be withdrawn,’” Bolton said.
Earlier, Bolton had called for an FBI investigation into Gaetz and another controversial pick — Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence — before they both appear for their Senate confirmation hearings.
“I don’t think either she or Matt Gaetz ought to have a confirmation hearing until they have both had full-field FBI investigations,” Bolton said during an interview with NewsNation.
“With his announcement of Tulsi Gabbard to be the director of national intelligence, he’s sending a signal that we have lost our mind when it comes to collecting intelligence,” Bolton continued.
“Up until a few hours ago, I would have said that was the worst cabinet appointment in recent American history. Of course, since Matt Gaetz’s nomination, he clearly has taken the lead on that score.”