CNN contributor Scott Jennings has become the go-to pundit for many conservatives recently as the Kentucky native offers funny, homespun hot takes on the latest political maneuvers in Washington, DC.
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We here at RedState are certainly big fans of Jennings’ insight and wit, such as his heartfelt eulogy to P’Nut the Squirrel, his mockery of the left over their insistence that Donald Trump was “literally Hitler,” and his deft takedowns of the media’s tantrums over Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks.
Jennings’ appearances on CNN yield not only memorable soundbites and sharp rebukes of the left, but also some pretty sound advice for Republicans. Such is the case with the aftermath of Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) withdrawing his name from consideration for Attorney General.
RedState’s fearless managing editor, Jennifer Van Laar, wrote Thursday of Gaetz’s decision to step aside:
Gaetz met with multiple Republican Senators on Wednesday in an attempt to shore up support for the nomination and said that while those meetings went well, he didn’t want the confirmation to be a “distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance transition.”
Scott Jennings appeared Thursday afternoon on CNN to discuss what might have doomed Gaetz’s nomination:
I think the rest of them all could be confirmed. Gaetz, I think as I’ve said to you that day, he always struck me as being in a different category. I think everybody else is still within the realm of confirmable. So this job, my advice would be let’s find somebody who starts above water, not below water.
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That analogy is spot on: the Gaetz nomination started below water; it was always going to be a slog to get him approved by the Senate, despite the fact that Republicans would be in the majority when the vote took place. Despite the combined efforts of Gaetz and JD Vance to drum up support, the Susan Collinses and Lisa Murkowskis of the world were never going to be convinced to vote for Matt Gaetz.
When asked by the CNN moderators why Trump, who apparently doesn’t have a backup AG pick, chose Gaetz in the first place knowing distasteful information was going to come out, Jennings replied, “Did they?” He elaborated:
This may have been a decision that was made more on the fly then after a considered vetting process. And that’s another thing about nominating people to jobs. It does pay to do your homework on the folks you send up and look, everybody has things that come out about them.
I mean, every nominee, you know, gets picked at and picked over. It doesn’t necessarily mean everything is fatal. But in this case, the information that had come out and that’s coming out today obviously was going to be a bridge too far for someone who already had pretty fraught relationships on the Hill.
As always, Jennings is worth a watch:
CNN’s @ScottJenningsKY on Trump’s other cabinet appointments: “I think the rest of them all could be confirmed. Gaetz, I think as I’ve said to you that day, he always struck me as being in a different category. I think everybody else is still within the realm of confirmable. So… pic.twitter.com/ZknRZJerdx
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) November 21, 2024
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If I were Scott Jennings, I would have added this: Matt Gaetz has managed to turn himself from political pariah into unlikely hero in the blink of an eye. He probably would’ve rather had a shot at taking a sledgehammer to the Department of Justice (DOJ), of course, but he was smart enough to see the writing on the wall.
In his wake, however, he’s left Trump voters hungry for a firebrand who will do what Gaetz would’ve done to the DOJ, but preferably without all the baggage. The GOP would be smart to take Scott Jennings’ advice and be measured in evaluating their next pick to clean house at the DOJ. Let’s get this one right.
