My feeling is that Gaetz and maybe RFK Jr are sacrificial goats, which Trump will withdraw in exchange for GOP Senators agreeing to give him EVERYONE else he nominates. Some say that Trump will never back down, but I think that's misreading his claim of being a "great dealmaker."
The one he REALLY wants is Tulsi Gabbard, because that's a gift to Putin.
My feeling is that Gaetz and maybe RFK Jr are sacrificial goats, which Trump will withdraw in exchange for GOP Senators agreeing to give him EVERYONE else he nominates. Some say that Trump will never back down, but I think that's misreading his claim of being a "great dealmaker."
The one he REALLY wants is Tulsi Gabbard, because that's a gift to Putin.
In fact Trump ALWAYS backs down whenever he's truly confronted. Problem is that he's almost never confronted. A rare exception was in 2020 when members of his staff threatened to quit if he hired Jeffrey Clark as AG. On that note I was surprised Clark wasn't his first pick this time. Ironically he might be if Gaetz is not confirmed.
I think Trump wants, possibly even expects, in his deranged drunk-with-power pea brain, all three of them should get through. He's sized up the GOP senate and thinks they won't dare cross him. That being said, I have a hard time imagining any of those three actually going through, with their glaring disqualifications, with thirty GOP senators saying on background Gaetz has no path. And if Trump has to replace them with watered-down versions he's going to appear ineffectual right after winning the election. He's at an all-time apex of being sure of his influence and instincts (for good reason) which is saying something. And all the background statements I've seen from his team and from Congress are he wants these people, not less potent replacements. No doubt elements in his team or the wider GOP want or expect they'll be sacrificed, but I don't see any evidence Trump does.
Well, it's a competition between (a) "I am all-powerful and they wouldn't dare cross me" and (b) "I am the King of the Dealmakers and I will con them into giving me the ones I really want by making them think they are asserting themselves, the suckers."
He doesn't need Gaetz for DOJ -- there are plenty of other lawyers who will do anything he asks, like Todd Blanche or Alina Habba. And I'm sure he's been told that everyone in Congress hates Gaetz, so it would be fitting that Gaetz is the human sacrifice. Trump may be a dummy in most respects, but one thing he knows is who hates whom.
Yes, maybe I'm giving Trump too much credit for thinking of any kind. But it looks like Gaetz is just too much for even his GOP sycophants to swallow.
Yes, Gaetz is the least likely of the clown show appointees to move forward. Whether intentionally or not, the Gaetz gambit may serve to pave the way for Hegesth or Gabbard or RFK Jr, when Gaetz isnтАЩt confirmed or is withdrawn. Having to replace all four is both hard to imagine and hard not to imagine considering who Trump is and the ultimate power he wields, and how clearly bad these appointees are objectively.
Along with knowing who hates whom, Trump knows who has the upper hand and who doesnтАЩt. HeтАЩs captured the oval, the senate, the courts l. He has a VP on the same page for tie votes. As JVL said today тАЬ the man understands power dynamics. And from where I sit, the institutions with the power to stop him look hopelessly, appallingly weak.тАЭ
My feeling is that Gaetz and maybe RFK Jr are sacrificial goats, which Trump will withdraw in exchange for GOP Senators agreeing to give him EVERYONE else he nominates. Some say that Trump will never back down, but I think that's misreading his claim of being a "great dealmaker."
The one he REALLY wants is Tulsi Gabbard, because that's a gift to Putin.
In fact Trump ALWAYS backs down whenever he's truly confronted. Problem is that he's almost never confronted. A rare exception was in 2020 when members of his staff threatened to quit if he hired Jeffrey Clark as AG. On that note I was surprised Clark wasn't his first pick this time. Ironically he might be if Gaetz is not confirmed.
I had the same thought -- either Jeffrey Clark or *gasp* Rudy Giuliani.
Either one still possible.
I think Trump wants, possibly even expects, in his deranged drunk-with-power pea brain, all three of them should get through. He's sized up the GOP senate and thinks they won't dare cross him. That being said, I have a hard time imagining any of those three actually going through, with their glaring disqualifications, with thirty GOP senators saying on background Gaetz has no path. And if Trump has to replace them with watered-down versions he's going to appear ineffectual right after winning the election. He's at an all-time apex of being sure of his influence and instincts (for good reason) which is saying something. And all the background statements I've seen from his team and from Congress are he wants these people, not less potent replacements. No doubt elements in his team or the wider GOP want or expect they'll be sacrificed, but I don't see any evidence Trump does.
Well, it's a competition between (a) "I am all-powerful and they wouldn't dare cross me" and (b) "I am the King of the Dealmakers and I will con them into giving me the ones I really want by making them think they are asserting themselves, the suckers."
He doesn't need Gaetz for DOJ -- there are plenty of other lawyers who will do anything he asks, like Todd Blanche or Alina Habba. And I'm sure he's been told that everyone in Congress hates Gaetz, so it would be fitting that Gaetz is the human sacrifice. Trump may be a dummy in most respects, but one thing he knows is who hates whom.
Yes, maybe I'm giving Trump too much credit for thinking of any kind. But it looks like Gaetz is just too much for even his GOP sycophants to swallow.
Yes, Gaetz is the least likely of the clown show appointees to move forward. Whether intentionally or not, the Gaetz gambit may serve to pave the way for Hegesth or Gabbard or RFK Jr, when Gaetz isnтАЩt confirmed or is withdrawn. Having to replace all four is both hard to imagine and hard not to imagine considering who Trump is and the ultimate power he wields, and how clearly bad these appointees are objectively.
Along with knowing who hates whom, Trump knows who has the upper hand and who doesnтАЩt. HeтАЩs captured the oval, the senate, the courts l. He has a VP on the same page for tie votes. As JVL said today тАЬ the man understands power dynamics. And from where I sit, the institutions with the power to stop him look hopelessly, appallingly weak.тАЭ