In the end, Republican senators were not forced to choose between their dignity and the president-elect’s wrath: With former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., withdrawing from consideration to serve as Donald Trump’s next attorney general, there is no longer a need to defend a man investigated for sex trafficking — no need to tell constituents that he didn’t know the woman he allegedly paid for sex was only 17 — or risk a late-night Truth Social rant from a 78-year-old.
Why Gaetz dropped out is as much of a mystery as why he was nominated in the first place. Sure, the headlines about having sex with a minor weren’t great, but it was old news. The Florida Republican and his allies could argue that it had all been looked into by the Department of Justice and no charges were ever filed. A House ethics report could and may still shed more light, but it likely wouldn’t alter the already known gist: that Gaetz was not the sort of middle-aged man you would like hanging around any teenage girls.
