Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) recently reacted to President-elect Donald Trump’s selection of Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) for attorney general, describing it as “God-tier kind of trolling.” While Fetterman told reporters that he believed some of Trump’s picks for his cabinet were good, he refrained from viewing Gaetz as such, maintaining it was done to elicit a reaction intentionally.
“It’s just kind of like a God-tier kind of trolling just to trigger a meltdown,” the Pennsylvania Democrat said. “But, really, the Dems’ opinions on Gaetz, that’s not really what’s interesting. The good ones are going to come by my colleagues on the other side, the GOP, on how they can justify voting for that j— off.”
“He would have been a solid pick. And then you put out someone like that,” he continued, speaking about Gaetz. However, Fetterman noted that the interesting part will be when his congressional colleagues must vote to confirm Gaetz. “That’s just nothing but trolling. The interesting answers are going to come from my colleagues on the GOP that they’re going to vote or justify voting for that mess,” he said.
Despite the right-wing enthusiasm behind Gaetz, some have noted that it may be a challenge to be confirmed by the Senate. One anonymous Republican senator claimed, “He will never get confirmed.” Similarly, another congressional Republican source maintained, “Ain’t gonna happen,” when referring to Gaetz’s confirmation.
Following Trump’s announcement that he would be selecting Gaetz, the Florida Republican resigned from the Senate. Gaetz was facing a House Ethics investigation over allegations that he had committed sexual misconduct, illicit drug use, and other violations. However, chair of the Ethics Committee Rep. Michael Guest, (R-MS) explained that “once a member is no longer a member of Congress, then ethics has no jurisdiction. So, if Matt Gaetz were to be appointed as the attorney general, the ethics investigation [which] is currently ongoing would cease at that point.”
The American Tribune reported on other pre-election comments from Sen. Fetterman who indicated that Trump showed strong signs in his home state of Pennsylvania, which the president-elect decisively won. “No, there’s nothing new here. I said the same thing in 2016. I said it will be close. There’s an issue there, and I said it is going to be close in 2020, and it was. I have been saying this: when it was Biden or Harris, it was going to be very close.” He added, “And Trump definitely has a connection with voters here in Pennsylvania. That’s why it’s going to be close. But there’s a lot of tremendous amount of energy for Harris too.”
Fetterman had also spoken about the intense support for Trump in Pennsylvania. “I was doing an event in Indiana County. Very, very red. And there was a superstore of Trump stuff, and it was a hundred feet long. [There were] dozens of T-shirts and hats and bumper stickers and all kinds of, I mean, it’s like, Where does this all come from? It’s the kind of thing that has taken on its own life. And it’s like something very special exists there. And that doesn’t mean that I admire it. It’s just — it’s real,” he said.
Watch Fetterman below:
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