WASHINGTON – Republicans on Capitol Hill are privately celebrating after former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) withdrew his nomination for attorney general. Publicly, many won’t even say his name.
“So you don’t even want to talk about Matt Gaetz?” Raw Story asked the incoming chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee in a cramped Capitol elevator.
“You all are so smart,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) replied to Raw Story.
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Like most of his Republican colleagues, Graham changed his tune on President-elect Donald Trump in recent years. But, like many of his GOP colleagues, that didn’t mean he was going to cheerlead for Gaetz.
With Gaetz out, Senate Republicans – at least the 10-plus Raw Story interviewed at the Capitol on Thursday afternoon – are eager to move on.
“Are you shedding any tears?” Raw Story asked just off the Senate floor.
“No,” Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) replied.
His Senate colleagues concur.
Since the nomination was announced, Senate Republicans have been inundated with Gaetz questions, so – even as he was the news of the day in Washington – they were eager to discuss anything but the man who was their party’s pariah throughout his four terms in Congress.
“If you got a non-Gaetz question, you’re first,” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) told Raw Story.
“Interesting. So, you guys don't even want to talk about him anymore?” Raw Story asked. “You're happy to just move past him?”
“This is a process,” Tillis said.
“This was a short process, sir,” Raw Story said.
“I’d like to think of it as us demonstrating our efficiency,” Tillis quipped as he entered the Senate chamber.
According to CNN, Gaetz withdrew within an hour of the network asking the former congressman about a woman who said he engaged in sexual misconduct with her twice when she was a minor. The woman was 17 years old at the time and testified that the second sexual encounter, which only came to light Thursday, was a threesome with an adult woman.
The allegations didn't come as a shock to anyone on Capitol Hill, including Gaetz’s closest allies.
“I've known Matt Gaetz for a long time,” Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) told Raw Story on Monday. “I told him, I said, ‘Matt, I'm gonna vote for you, but if they prove something now, you're not gonna make it.’ He said, ‘Coach, I'm good. I've told the president, I'm good with this. They don't have anything.’”
Raw Story circled back with Tuberville after the latest allegations broke.
“You told me [Monday] that you had told Gaetz, ‘Hey, if stuff comes out, you're not gonna get it’ – do you know what stuff came out?” Raw Story asked.
“I don't know whether anything came out or he came up here and just didn't get a good feel to get confirmed,” Tuberville told Raw Story at the Capitol.
While Senate Republicans were light on details, many also didn’t care to stop and digest the latest in a string of Gaetz allegations.
It’s not just the GOP rank-and-file. Steve Daines (R-MT), the outgoing chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee – who’s credited with helping the GOP win back the majority earlier this month – lavished lukewarm praise on Gaetz for bowing out.
“Is this good?” Raw Story asked.
“I respect this decision,” Daines replied.
“Was he a distraction for the agenda?” Raw Story pressed.
“I respect this decision,” Daines repeated as he walked onto the Senate floor.
Daines was not alone. Newly minted Senate Republican Leader John Thune (R-SD) didn’t even turn his head when Raw Story asked about Gaetz’s withdrawal.
The new GOP leader’s top general, Republican Whip John Barrasso (R-WY), seemed to have received the same memo.
“Are you glad that Gaetz is out?” Raw Story asked as someone bumped into the senator's aide, spilling the contents of her arms onto the marble hall.
“Your phone’s still on the ground — it’s still on the ground,” Barrasso told his staffer while breezing past Raw Story before turning to a reporter asking about Trump’s controversial secretary of defense nominee, Pete Hegseth of Fox and Friends Weekend fame.
“How did your meeting go with Hegseth?” the reporter asked of Hegseth, whose lawyer — to the surprise of Trump’s transition team — recently admitted the veteran settled a case with a woman who accused him of sexual assault seven years ago.
“Very productive meeting with the nominee,” Barrasso replied, ignoring Raw Story’s Gaetz question.
Gaetz may be gone, but the questions are far from over.
A poor, haphazard vetting process seems to be plaguing Trump’s second term before he’s even officially back in the White House, but Republicans don’t want to discuss that as they try to portray a unified GOP heading into the New Year.
“Would you like it for the administration — or for the transition — to not pick someone who's accused of having sex with a minor for the next AG?” Raw Story asked one of Gaetz’s former Florida colleagues.
“So the — I can just tell you my experience with Matt was positive,” Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) told Raw Story. “I think Susie Wiles does a great job. I think Trump needs somebody that's going to do a good job, so I'm sure they'll go into it with the right mind.”
Democrats aren’t so sure, and they haven’t been since Trump dropped jaws with his initial Gaetz nomination.
“I told people that he would never make it through,” Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) told Raw Story while riding a Senate elevator. “And, obviously, he did not.”
While no one’s spiking the proverbial football, Democrats are breathing sighs of relief now that Gaetz is gone, for now at least.
“It was a smart call,” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) told Raw Story while walking to the Capitol. “He was not going to get confirmed, so just make it easier on everybody.”