The Dictatorship

Matt Gaetz’s crusade to own the libs could have a silver lining for America

Published

2 years ago

November 15, 2024

Matt Gaetz’s crusade to own the libs could have a silver lining for America

Many of Donald Trump’s choices for Cabinet nominations can be appropriately described as some combination of absurd, baffling and shocking. But his announcement Wednesday that he wants Matt Gaetz to be his attorney general has received far more immediate pushback. The opposition to Gaetz, who resigned his congressional seat after Trump’s announcement, stems less from his obvious lack of qualifications than the fact that so many of his former colleagues, both Democrats and Republicans, despise him.

Yet if Gaetz manages to get confirmed, as terrible as that would most likely be for the country, it could have been even worse.

Even his supporters describe Gaetz as a force of unfocused destruction.

As Trump set about filling his Cabinet, the position of attorney general was always going to be among the most important. In Trump’s first term, he discovered that appointing conservative crusaders was not enough to do what Trump thinks is the attorney general’s job: shielding the president. What he needed, Trump decided, was people who put their loyalty to him above the law, the Constitution and the country. For Trump, the ideal attorney general will quash inconvenient investigations, fire anyone whose commitment to the MAGA cult is questionable and prosecute his enemies.

There’s an old adage that in Congress there are “work horses” and “show horses,” those who do the difficult labor of legislating and those more interested in preening for the cameras. But today’s age of outrage media has given rise to a new class of representatives who seemingly measure their success by how many liberals hate them. That’s what Gaetz has been.

But among the Marjorie Taylor Greenes and Lauren Boeberts, Gaetz has been especially unpopular. That was true long before the House Ethics Committee began investigating allegations that Gaetz used drugs and paid for sex with underage girls (Gaetz has denied the allegations, and a Justice Department investigation was closed without charges). Before Gaetz’s resignation, the committee’s report was supposed to be released Friday. While the committee’s chair said the report would not be released, senators from both parties say they want to see the probe’s findings.

Whatever happens with the report, reactions from Capitol Hill Republicans to Gaetz’s nomination ranged from disbelief to disgust. Even his supporters describe Gaetz as a force of unfocused destruction. “President Trump is going to hit the Justice Department with a blowtorch, and Matt Gaetz is that torch,” said Steve Bannon.

Blowtorches do tremendous damage, it’s true — but Gaetz might light his own shoes on fire in the process. While he is technically a lawyer, he has no experience to help him understand the complexities of the Justice Department and how he might go about overhauling or dismantling it. A mismanaged department — especially one suffering from mass resignations, which Gaetz’s confirmation could well produce — would be one less able to carry out Trump’s mercurial whims. Gaetz could wind up paying more attention to distracting squabbles and pointless vendettas than remaking the department into a smoothly running engine of MAGA retribution. There are worse things than chaos.

He had the other contenders beat in one crucial area: endlessly yelling about liberals on TV.

Other names mentioned as possible attorneys general had far more experience and competence than Gaetz and just as much commitment to the MAGA cause. They included Mark Paoletta, a close friend of Clarence Thomas’ who worked in multiple Republican administrations; he has posted lengthy missives on social media explaining the need to purge the Justice Department of “deep state” officials who fail to do Trump’s bidding. But he was passed over, as was Jeffrey Clarkthe Justice Department official in Trump’s first term who went to such lengths to try to overturn the 2020 election that he was indicted in Georgia and a disciplinary council recommended that his law license be suspended. Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, whom Trump also considered for a Supreme Court seat, is another Trump ally who was in contention.

Gaetz was such an outlandish choice that he was apparently on no one’s short list. But he had the other contenders beat in one crucial area: endlessly yelling about liberals on TV. And few things matter more to Trump.

If Gaetz manages to get confirmed — or if Trump circumvents the Senate to give him a recess appointment — he would likely bring chaos and vindictiveness with him to the Justice Department, which is exactly what Trump wants. But we may look back and say that a loud and incompetent buffoon was both a disaster and yet preferable to a quieter but equally radical figure who would undermine democratic principles in a more methodical and capable way. It is the thinnest of silver linings. But over the next four years, we are going to have to take victories where we can find them.

The Dictatorship

Trump wants a Supreme Court do-over on birthright citizenship, but he won’t get one

Published

14 hours ago

July 9, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Trump wants a Supreme Court do-over on birthright citizenship, but he won’t get one

For months, Donald Trump made clear that he expected the Supreme Court to rule against him on birthright citizenship, and his expectations were correct: Last week, a narrow majority of the high court ruled that the Constitution’s 14th Amendment means what it says.

Hours after the decision came down, the president downplayed the importance of his defeat, saying that he would pursue a legislative solution through Congress, but eight days later, the Republican published a very different kind of message to his social media platform that approached the issue in a more hysterical way. The missive read, in its entirety:

Signs and Billboards are being put up all over our Southern Border, and Mexico, advertising BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP, with “Deliveries starting at $4000.” Likewise, similar signs going up all over our Country. Billions of Dollars will be illegally made by this SCAM, with Citizenship going to anyone willing to pay. It will be, by far, the number one way of becoming a citizen, and then the entire family will be allowed to follow. Not sustainable.

NOBODY SAW THIS COMING!!! AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP IS NOT FOR SALE! In fact, that is a crime, and therefore, the Supreme Court’s ruling is wrong. I will be asking for a Rehearing by the United States Supreme Court, IMMEDIATELY. This miscarriage of justice will destroy America if they don’t change their absolutely insane decision. Thank you for your attention to this matter!

Even by Trump standards, this one’s a doozy.

The New York Times reported“The president appeared to be referring to a Fox News report that identified a hospital in Texas that had advertised paying for ‘Birth Packages in South Texas’ on billboards in Mexico. The outlet reported that Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas, a Republican, had ordered an investigation into the hospital, which told Fox News that “marketing materials regarding maternity services are no longer in use due to any unintended misunderstanding.”

Trump apparently took this report and ran with it, inventing various other details, including the amusing idea that cross-border birth tourism will somehow become “the number one way of becoming a citizen” (“by far,” the president added), as opposed to simply being born on U.S. soil to American parents.

But even if such an advertising campaign existed, it wouldn’t generate a rehearing from the Supreme Court. There is no scenario in which justices would say, “Sure, we ruled last week that the unambiguous language of the 14th Amendment means what it says, but if there are billboards going up, that changes everything.”

For good measure, let’s not forget that, according to Trump, his administration has effectively ended illegal border crossings, so as a practical matter, he really shouldn’t be that concerned.

The president’s online rant said he intends to ask for an immediate rehearing. If he orders administration lawyers to go through with such a pointless exercise and they bother to do the paperwork, they should keep their collective expectations low.

Steve Benen is a producer for “The Rachel Maddow Show,” the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He’s also the bestselling author of “Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans’ War on the Recent Past.”

The Dictatorship

Democrats’ scramble to replace Graham Platner ramps up in Maine

Published

14 hours ago

July 9, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Democrats’ scramble to replace Graham Platner ramps up in Maine

Christmas. 9, 2026, 9:46 AM EDT

Maine Democrats are scrambling to replace Graham Platner a day after their nominee for U.S. Senate ended his bid following an allegation of sexual assault.

There’s a July 27 deadline set by state law for the party faithful to pick a new standard bearer in a race that is expected to be instrumental when it comes to whether Republicans can keep control of the Senate in this fall’s midterms.

Incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins may be vulnerable, but she has won five straight races for the seat dating back to 1996, and trying to defeat her was likely to carry challenges for Democrats even in the best case scenario.

Their new candidate will have to essentially start from nothing in the race, mend the divisions sown by Platner, introduce (or reintroduce) themselves to the broader electorate and corral support from the ex-candidate’s outsider-minded current and former followers, all in less than four months.

That amounts to a daunting task with massive implications not only for Maine Democrats, but potentially for the final two years of President Donald Trump’s time in the White House. Democrats need to flip at least four GOP-held Senate seats, and maintain all their current ones from several competitive states, to vault themselves into the majority in the midterms. A loss in Maine would be a significant setback.

Maine Democratic Party leaders announced plans “to hold a nominating convention to choose a new nominee,” while stating that “transparency is of the utmost importance.”

Already, several major voices are in the race, including unsuccessful candidate for governor and past Platner supporter Troy Jackson. The former state senate president made his bid clear less than an hour after Platner left the race. One major Bernie Sanders-aligned group, Our Revolution, has quickly rallied around Jackson.

Dan Kleban, co-founder of Maine Beer Company,”https://x.com/mainebeerbrewer/status/2075028234962677872?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet”>is also in the fray, along with former governor candidate Nirav Shah, who worked as Director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention during the pandemic. Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows who also ran for governor this summer is among other potential contenders.

Platner’s exit also brings difficulty for Collins and Republicans as well, however. Instead of facing a Democratic rival with a string of alarming controversies even before the sexual assault allegationan accustation Platner has denied, Collins instead will have to try to keep her seat in a blue state against someone far less defined, and potentially with far fewer vulnerabilities, in November.

Across the country this year, Democrats have navigated a political environment rife with divisions over how to sway voters in these strange times, with tension between more entrenched party leaders and an energetic and angered left wing often spilling out into the open.

What happens in Maine over the coming weeks may prove to be no different.

Hunter Woodall covers politics for MS NOW. He’s reported on politics and presidential campaigns for The Associated Press and CBS News and reported on Congress for The Minnesota Star Tribune.

The Dictatorship

Platner’s exit amplifies a key difference between Democrats and Republicans

Published

14 hours ago

July 9, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Platner’s exit amplifies a key difference between Democrats and Republicans

It’s been almost three years since Kevin McCarthy became the first sitting House speaker to be ousted in the middle of a congressional sessionbut the California Republican has nevertheless tried to maintain a public profile and has routinely appeared on conservative media to push partisan talking points.

So it wasn’t too surprising to see McCarthy on Fox News on Monday night, responding to the latest sexual assault allegations against Graham Platner, still a candidate for Senate at the time.

As part of an apparent effort to contextualize the scandals surrounding the Maine Democrat, the former GOP leader said, “One thing I know about Republicans is when we had a very bad candidate and found out, we didn’t vote for that person. We walked away.”

Moments later, McCarthy added, “When Matt Gaetz came forward, we got rid of him.”

As is too often the case, the failed former House speaker not only had it backward, but his mistake also offered a timely reminder of details that made him and his party look worse, not better.

Indeed, Gaetz offers a rather extraordinary example. The Justice Department investigated the Florida Republican over allegations of alleged sex trafficking, and while Gaetz repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and the prosecutors’ probe ended without charges, his House GOP colleagues made no effort to “get rid of him” as the scandal intensified.

What’s more, the House Ethics Committee found “substantial evidence” that Gaetz “regularly” paid women for sex, had sex with a 17-year-old during his tenure on Capitol Hill and possessed illegal drugs. Nevertheless, as that evidence came together, he remained a GOP member in good standing; he won re-election in 2024 with the Republican Party’s backing; and President Donald Trump thought it would be a good idea to nominate Gaetz to serve as the U.S. attorney general — a nomination endorsed by Republican senators such as South Carolina’s Lindsey Graham and Alabama’s Tommy Tubervilleeven after they had seen the House Ethics Committee’s findings.

This is what McCarthy cited as an example of the GOP maintaining the highest standards and throwing “very bad candidates” to the curb. That’s ridiculous.

But there’s no reason to stop with Gaetz. Indeed, the list of scandal-plagued Republicans who continued to enjoy the party’s backing long after ugly allegations had reached the public is not short. Trump is obviously the most glaring example, but the list includes other contemporary figures, including Rep. Cory Mills of Florida and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

There’s no reason to limit the list to electoral candidates, either: Former Fox News host Pete Hegseth faced an avalanche of scandals during his confirmation fight early last year, but Senate Republicans decided to ignore the allegations and make him defense secretary anyway.

As the Hegseth fight unfolded, political scientist Jonathan Bernstein published a smart piece that remains relevant: “I do not believe that Republicans or conservatives are any more prone to [scandals] than Democrats. What has changed, however, is the incentive structure. Once upon a time both parties were equally likely to rid themselves of bad actors; now Republicans are far more likely to tolerate, and in some cases even celebrate, behavior they once would have shunned.”

When Democrats learned of serious allegations against then-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, the party abandoned him. When then-New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez faced serious criminal charges for which he was later convicted, the party abandoned him, too.

In Maine, the Platner example followed the same path, as evidenced by his decision to withdraw from the Maine race after Democratic officials left him with no other choice.

Former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance, an MS NOW legal analyst, explained this week“The contrast here is hard to ignore. Democrats have shown that when credible allegations of sexual misconduct emerge against one of their own, the conversation turns quickly to accountability. Republicans have made a different choice. That’s not a partisan talking point, it’s a difference in how the two parties have approached questions of character and fitness for office over the last 10 years.”

That’s true, whether McCarthy wants to acknowledge it or not.