Few of President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet picks are as controversial as former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz, who was a surprise choice to lead the Justice Department as Attorney General. Gaetz, a trained lawyer who served four terms in the House of Representatives and last week won reelection by a 45-point margin. Upon being nominated Gaetz resigned that seat, and a special election will now determine his replacement while he prepares for the confirmation process.
Gaetz has built a national reputation as a maverick. His greatest exploit came in October 2023, when he forced a House leadership contest that led to the ouster of Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who had violated several promises he made in his leadership bid, including a vote on a comprehensive federal budget.
If America First principles triumphed over McCarthy, Gaetz also consistently proved his ability to work in loyal concert with Trump, for whom he at one point cast a vote to name speaker of the House (speakers of the House need not be serving members). If fully developed, that initiative would have given the former and future president control over all federal legislation for the remainder of Joe Biden’s term.
Such insolence, of course, could not go unpunished. Beginning in 2020, a two-year Justice Department investigation examined allegations that Gaetz had engaged in a paid sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl who apparently was procured with other women by a friend of Gaetz’s who was later imprisoned. Gaetz denied the allegations, and not even Joe Biden’s Justice Department attorneys—the same chaps who put school parents on a domestic terrorism watch list and subjected Trump to two criminal investigations that turned out to be both unconstitutional and spurious—could find a way to make the charges stick. They decided that their witnesses were unreliable and dropped the charges.
A subsequent congressional investigation, the results of which were due to be released on Friday but appear now to be on hold, reviewed these and other allegations. In the interim, the only public source was a leaked affidavit alleging that Gaetz was present at a party that had drugs and bedrooms.
We are supposed to believe this is a scandal of such consequence that Gaetz should be denied confirmation. Recall, however, that many of those urging this measure castigated critics of Bill Clinton’s affair with a White House intern, a lapse that was not merely alleged but proven and admitted by the former president, who was subsequently fined and disbarred from legal practice for having perjured himself before a federal grand jury.
Democrats also had no problem confirming Biden Deputy Assistant Secretary of Energy Sam Brinton (they/them), whose brief included nuclear waste disposal, despite his side hustle teaching sadomasochism workshops. Brinton was fired after twice stealing ladies’ luggage from airport baggage carousels but has so far avoided jail time.
What’s the difference? Clinton and Brinton were Democrats, while Gaetz is a Republican. In our current political culture, it is acceptable for Democrats to engage in almost any form of depravity, even if it involves actual crime. Republicans, however, are to be professionally and socially destroyed even if they are merely accused of a sexual offense, as Gaetz has been.
Sadly, some legacy establishment conservative media, including National Review and The Wall Street Journal, are enthusiastically going along with this outrageous double standard, as may enough senators to vote down Gaetz’s confirmation. Republicans across the land should overcome this loser mentality and confirm the president’s choice.
Paul du Quenoy is president of the Palm Beach Freedom Institute.
