‘A Red Alert Moment for American Democracy’: Senator Sounds Alarm Over Trump Nominating Matt Gaetz for AG
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) sounded the alarm over President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) as his attorney general, saying it will be a “red alert moment for American Democracy.”
Murphy appeared on CNN’s The Lead just minutes after Trump released a statement that shocked almost all of Congress and was left to react to Jake Tapper’s questions after just exiting the Senate floor.
“I was walking off the Senate floor just moments ago when the news was announced,” Murphy said. “You could literally hear the jaws dropping to the floor of Republican senators who are now going to be in a position to stand up to Donald Trump in a way that they have been unwilling to.”
“Matt Gaetz is dangerously unqualified,” Murphy continued. “That’s not the worst of it. Gaetz has been Trump’s chief defender when it comes to Trump’s assault on democracy. His attempt to overthrow the government on January 6th. And he has openly called for the abolition of law enforcement agencies if they don’t get in line with conservative political priorities.”
Murphy then explained exactly why he is so concerned:
This is going to be a red alert moment for American democracy. Matt Gaetz is being nominated for one reason and one reason only: He will implement Donald Trump’s transition of the department of justice from an agency that stands up for all of us to an agency that is simply an arm of the White house designed to persecute and prosecute Trump’s political enemies.
This is a stunning announcement in some ways, but not surprising in others. Trump told us during the campaign that he was going to use the white house to go after people who politically opposed him and it seems this pick for the head of the department of justice is very much in line with the promises he made during the campaign.
After a brief discussion of the Senate majority numbers Republicans will enjoy post-election, Tapper pressed Murphy on the likelihood that Gaetz, who is under investigation for inappropriate relations with a minor, will become Attorney General. “But ultimately, don’t you think he will be confirmed? Don’t you think that all of the Senate Republicans are going to vote for President Trump’s nominees? Do you really think any of them will vote against Mike Huckabee to ambassador to Israel, Tulsi Gabbard to be Director of National Intelligence, or Pete Hegseth to be Secretary of Defense? Can you really name one Republican that will vote against any of those individuals?”
“Well, obviously, some of this news is breaking within the last ten minutes so I can’t come on air and try to guess about the votes of my colleagues. I will talk to them over the course of the next few days and make the case that maybe the most important nomination at this moment is the nomination for Attorney General. Right?” Murphy hedged, before laying out, again, the stakes of these confirmation hearings as he sees them:
The entire credibility of government rests upon the belief that law enforcement is there to protect all of us. That it is an independent entity. It is not just to be used at the political whim of the president. Matt Gaetz is being nominated because he will be and is today a political agent of Donald Trump. The ramifications of this pick, this particular pick, are stunning and potentially cataclysmic for American democracy. I hope that some Senate Republicans will see that.
“Unless there’s some Democratic maneuvering that I don’t know about, that they’ll just adjourn, right?” Tapper pressed. “The majority will vote to adjourn and Donald Trump will say, okay, recess appointment. All these people, and especially Matt Gaetz as Attorney General, right?
“That would be the end of the United States Senate,” Murphy warned. “If the senate chose to end its power of advice and consent and just allow the president to choose without any input, confirmation process or approval of his cabinet. I don’t know why we would show up to work. That’s not a democracy anymore. Our founding fathers would be rolling over in their graves. ”
“So listen, this is all happening very fast, Jake. We are going to have conversations in the Senate, especially with the handful of Senate Republicans who do care about American democracy, and see if we can come to some conclusions to make sure we preserve the power of advice and consent and try to find coalitions that can push back on some of the most dangerous nominees,” concluded Murphy.
Watch above via CNN.
