CNN anchor Jake Tapper appeared to be in disbelief while addressing President-elect Donald Trump's decision to name Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) as his attorney general during a live broadcast of The Lead Wednesday (November 13) night.
“Welcome to The Lead, I’m Jake Tapper. And let me begin the show by uttering some words that I never contemplated using together before. And those words are: U.S. Attorney General Matt Gaetz,” Tapper said.
“Because if you were wondering what Trump without the guardrails looks like, well, we’re getting an idea beyond the theoretical,” he added.
Trump announced Gaetz, 42, as his incoming administration's top prosecutor hours earlier on Wednesday, which was met with shock in Congress, including some Republicans whom Gaetz had openly criticized in the past. Gaetz immediately resigned from Congress after being selected by Trump, according to House Speaker Mike Johnson, which ends a House Ethics Committee investigation accusing him of engaging in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, accepting improper gifts, dispensing special privileges and favors to those whom he had a personal relationship, and seeking to obstruct government investigations into the allegations.
The ethics panel was reportedly set to vote on whether to release its "highly damaging" report on Gaetz on Friday (November 15), however, it no longer has jurisdiction to pursue an investigation now that he's resigned. Trump referred to Gaetz, who has vehemently denied the allegations, as a "deeply gifted and tenacious attorney" who would "end Weaponized Government, protect our Borders, dismantle Criminal Organizations and restore Americans’ badly-shattered Faith and Confidence in the Justice Department" in his announcement on Wednesday.
Gaetz would need to secure votes for a nomination for attorney general.