What A Day - Bye bye, Gaetz. Hello, Attorney General Pam Bondi

Episode Date: November 22, 2024

In news that was somehow both genuinely surprising and 100 percent predictable, former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew from consideration to be the next U.S. Attorney General on Thursday. If President-elect Donald Trump was upset about the whole thing, he didn’t show it. Within hours, he had a new pick for the job: Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, another longtime MAGA devotee. Still, it’s also not like Gaetz was Trump’s only problematic nominee, and it’s not clear how many of the others will actually make it through the Senate confirmation process. Tim Miller, host of The Bulwark podcast and a former Republican strategist, explains what Gaetz’s withdrawal means for the rest of Trump’s nominees. And headlines: The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister Yoav Gallant, CNN released old tape of RFK Jr. comparing Trump to Hitler, and the Justice Department wants Google to sell off Chrome.Show Notes:Check out Tim's pod – https://www.thebulwark.com/Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcastFollow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

It's Friday, November 22nd. I'm Jane Kostin, and this is What a Day, the show that stands with AMC Theatres in their effort to stop theater kids from singing during showings of Wicked Part 1. According to Vulture, the theater chain is airing a 30-second ad before the movie asking viewers not to sing along, because there will be a sing-along version in theaters in December, and also because it's the most irritating thing I can imagine ever happening in my life. On today's show, the International Criminal Court issues a warrant for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and what the WWE has to tell us about a Trump presidency. Let's get into it. In news that is somehow both genuinely surprising

and 100% predictable, former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz withdrew from consideration to be the next US Attorney General on Thursday. Surprisingly, because if there's one thing Gaetz seems to love, it's a nasty public fight with people who hate him. Predictable because, have you been watching the news lately? Gaetz reportedly bowed out just after CNN told him it had even more damaging details,

if you can believe it, about his alleged sexual misconduct. The network reported that the House Ethics Committee was told Gates had sex with a 17-year-old girl twice at a party in 2017. The committee had been investigating Gates up until he resigned from Congress on allegations of sexual misconduct and drug use. Allegations Gates has long denied. If President-elect Donald Trump was upset about the whole thing, he didn't show it. Because within hours, he already had a new nominee. Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi.

She is best known for being the lead state attorney general in a Republican effort to overturn the Affordable Care Act, serving on Trump's legal team during his first impeachment, oh, and dropping an investigation into the scandal-plagued Trump University after getting a $25,000 donation from the Donald J. Trump Foundation. At least she has more relevant legal experience than Gates. But it's also not like Gates was Trump's only problematic nominee. On Thursday, his pick for defense secretary, Fox News'

Pete Hegseth, spent his visit to Capitol Hill denying allegations of sexual assault made by a California woman. Bitching sexually assaulted woman in moderate California. I have, as far as the media is concerned, I'll keep this very simple. The matter was fully investigated and I was completely cleared and that's where I'm leaving. Hickseth wasn't completely cleared. He just wasn't charged.

And then there's Trump's pick for Secretary of Education, Linda McMahon. She's facing abuse allegations as well, that she and her husband enabled the sexual assault of children while they were running world wrestling entertainment. This is all to say nothing of the Trump picks who are just unqualified. So for more on what Gates's withdrawal says about the state of the GOP and what it means for Trump's other bat shit crazy nominees, I spoke with Tim Miller. He hosts the Bulwark podcast and is a former Republican strategist. We spoke just before news about Bondi broke. Tim, welcome to What A Day.

Hey, Jane. It's good to be here with you. I'm just happy we're in your rain here on What A Day. I know. Okay, so let's get to the big question. Why did Gates drop out? Because he couldn't get the votes is the stated position right now. And I just, my Spidey senses up on it a little bit.

So I'll just be straight. Like I trust my colleague, Mark Caputo is as good of a reporter on Florida man, mega politicians as anybody. And what his reporting says is that he made the rounds. There were at least six senators who were very strong nos. And he was talking to Trump and Trump's basically like, sorry, bro. That's it's not going

to happen. It's not going to happen. Let's just move forward. I'm open to the fact that that's the story, though it is a little befuddling to me about why Donald Trump coming off this big victory where he has the mandate of God did not push his team through. And so it makes me think that there's something else to the story, whether that is more coming out about the ethics report or whether there's some other behind the scenes little deal that Gates and Trump have. I don't know, but I'm open to there being more to the story. How much was the collapse of this nomination about the allegations against Gates and his total lack of qualifications?

And how much is it about the fact that Matt Gates was an asshole to everyone in Congress, including Mitch McConnell, whom he once called Mitch McFailure. It was because he was an asshole to his colleagues. And my evidence for this is very simple. Pete Hegseth is still under nomination for Secretary of Defense. Pete Hegseth has, I would say, equal or greater personal foibles to Matt Gaetz. If you looked at the police report that came out where there's a woman who alleges that he sexually assaulted her at a conservative conference when he was drunk. And on top of that, when it comes to his actual credentials, he is fewer than Gaetz. And so then why is Gaetz out but Hegseth in?

The answer is simple. Gaetz is an asshole and the Republicans weren't going to support him. Hicks Seth gave them all softball questions on the couch at Fox and Friends and said they don't have any issue with them. Like, you know, I don't think it takes a genius to figure it out. We already mentioned Hicks Seth, but what does this mean for the other nominations? Former congressman Tulsi Gabbard, who he wants for DNI, RFK Jr. for Health and Human Services. Like, is this good for them, bad for them? What does it mean? It feels to me that it's bad for them, because the whole sacrificial lamb theory is based on, like, when you're actually into the horse trading mode of all this, right? Like, that happens later.

This all is so early. I know it feels like a lifetime ago, but the election was like two weeks ago, and Trump doesn't become actually president again for two months. So we're a long time away from these hearings. And so if Gates had dropped in late January, it was like, oh, this is becoming too much of a hassle, that would have been a good sign for the other ones, because they would have been cutting a deal behind the scenes, like, we'll make Gates a sacrificial lamb, put these other guys through. That's not where we're at. We've got two months to meet me This is more like a blood in the water type situation where some of these senators are like Oh, maybe we can get a couple of these other terrible people out over the holidays while we have the chance So I'm not out there predicting that any of them drop

But I think that on balance it makes their nominations a little rocky so something I've been thinking about with regard to Senate Republicans is like, they're dealing with a lame duck president who they might outlast in office. Ish. And like, you know, Trump is old. Does this show that they have a spine? Or am I just kidding myself? It's a good question.

So I'll just admit for the listeners, I thought Gates was going to be attorney general. So I was wrong about this. And the question that remains is, is my wrongness because I misjudged the amount of spine the Republican senators are going to have because of the reasons you just laid out, lame duckness, age, the narrowness of their majorities? Or was this a situation where Gates you know, Gates just didn't want to deal with the smoke and, you know, kind of pulled the plug himself and honestly had pushed him to shove, had Trump really twisted arms, he could have gotten through, right? We just, I just, we don't have that information yet. So to me, I think what this

is is a, it's an eyebrow raise. It's like, huh, could these Republican senators have a spine after all? Maybe. I don't know. Maybe. And so I'm not optimistic. I'm not getting my hopes up. But I would say, you know, just based on new information, changing priors based on new information, I think it's at least possible that if you look at, you know, you already had Borkowski and Collins, you only need to get two more of anything. And if Mitch McConnell is just in YOLO mode and he's just like, F this guy, I'm going to retire anyway. I have health problems. You know, I had polio, I'm not going to put the anti-vax or in HHS, and I'm going to make

it hard on him. That's possible. I mean, would I bet my anything? Would I bet a dollar on it? No, but it seems more possible today than it seemed yesterday. Yeah. Let's let's talk a little bit about Mitch McConnell, because I, I do think it was kind of funny the idea that like Trump and Gates were going to play super hardball with Mitch McConnell, who if I've learned anything over the last 10 years, you don't play super hardball with Mitch McConnell. And he, as you mentioned, was one of the senators who wouldn't vote for Gates. Is he basically going to determine whether these nominees sink or swim?

He's pretty key. And I guess I haven't heard any evidence that he's had a detente. Trump did a detente with Brian Kemp, for example, in Georgia before the campaign. We've heard nothing like that out of McConnell and Trump world. And so if you have McConnell and Murkowski and Collins, now you're down to 50-50, right? And so you could jam through a 50-50 nomination with JD Vance, but things get a lot dicier. You could have one other person, you know, in a Gabbard situation, might one of the Hawks, not one of, not one to confirm her, you know, in the RFK situation, might there be, I don't know, might Chuck Grassley not want to because of, you know, he loves pesticides. Right?

Like, I don't know. You know, if you get down to a thing where you only have one margin, a one vote margin, weird stuff can happen. So I think that McConnell's role is interesting, you know, I'll believe when I see it, I guess is what I'll say. But I do think that, you know, if he's retiring, he's a lame duck himself, and he's pissed at Trump, then I don't know, why not? Tim, it's always a pleasure. Thank you so much for coming on.

Pleasure is always mine, Jane. We'll see you soon. That was my conversation with Tim Miller, host of the Bullwork podcast and former Republican strategist. We got back in touch with Tim after the interview to get his reaction to Bondi's nomination. Here's what he had to say. She is a throwback. This is for the OGs.

She was with Trump at the beginning. She endorsed Trump over Marco and Jeb back in 2016. This is the type of person he picks. She looks the part and more than anything, she was a guest host on the five on Fox. So I'm not surprised. I'm not sure that she's quite as conniving as Gates. So in some sense, that's a change, but she's going to know her way around the building

better than he would have, having been Florida attorney general. So I call it basically a lateral move for those of us who are concerned about how the Justice Department is going to look in the Trump administration. We'll get to more of the news in a moment, but if you like the show, make sure to subscribe, leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts, watch us on YouTube, and share with your friends. More to come after some ads. And now the news. Headlines.

We remain deeply concerned by the prosecutor's rush to seek arrest warrants and the troubling process errors that led to this decision. During a press briefing on Thursday, White House Press Secretary Kareen Jean-Pierre condemned the International Criminal Court. The ICC issued warrants for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Galant for war crimes. Hamas military chief Mohammed Daif was issued a warrant for crimes against humanity over the kidnapping of Israeli hostages.

The Israeli military claims it killed Dave in the summer, though the ICC says it hasn't confirmed its killing. Prosecutors for the court announced that they would seek the warrants back in May. And on Thursday, Netanyahu said he would not comply, calling the decision anti-Semitic. But Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, one of the ICC's 124 member countries, says he will arrest Netanyahu if he steps

foot on Canadian soil. As Canada has always said, it's really important that everyone abide by international law. This is something we've been calling on from the beginning of the conflict. Israel argues that the court does not have jurisdiction over the country because Israel's not a member, and neither is the U.S. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is under fire yet again. On Thursday, CNN released old tape of R.F.K. Jr. comparing his future boss to Hitler.

In a clip from Kennedy's radio show in 2016, he praised a reporter who once called Trump supporters, quote, belligerent idiots and compared them to Nazis. In fact, he liked the article so much he recited it on air. We may not have that many outright Nazis in America, but we have plenty of cowards and bootlickers. And once those fleshy dominos start tumbling into the Trump camp, the game is up. Trump has tapped R.F.K. Jr. to be his secretary of Health and Human Services, something I still can't believe

we have to acknowledge every time we talk about him. Kennedy told CNN that he regrets what he said because of course he does. What web browser do you use? Is it Chrome? Then you're probably using it to do Google searches too. And that's a problem for the Department of Justice. In August, a US District Court judge ruled

that Google had an illegal monopoly over Internet search. Now, federal prosecutors are asking Google's parent company, Alphabet, to do four things. 1. Sell its beloved Chrome web browser. 2. Stop paying phone makers like Apple to make Google the default search engine. 3.

Allow websites to opt out of having their data used to train Google's AI. And 4. sites to opt out of having their data used to train Google's AI, and four, either stop making Android phones or let the court oversee Google's Android division. Sounds like a tall order. Google is preparing to file its plan to fix the search monopoly by December 20th. The House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday that would authorize the Treasury Department to unilaterally remove tax-exempt status from nonprofits it deems to support terrorism. House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith of Missouri championed the bill ahead

of the vote. He argued that Democrats who once supported the legislation only oppose it now because Donald Trump has been elected. If we're truly against terrorism, our actions will speak louder and we will vote for this legislation. But we'll see. We'll see who's brave on the other side, who wants to stand with real America and not woke policies.

The bill raises concerns for civil liberties groups about funding, given that the treasury secretary is presidentially appointed and what Donald Trump thinks is terrorism is not always what I think is terrorism. The ACLU, along with almost 300 other nonprofit organizations, from Planned Parenthood and the NAACP to the AFL-CIO and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, wrote a letter to the House urging members to vote against the bill. Democratic Representative Pramila Jayapal from Washington State called it a quote, authoritarian play by Republicans, and said it would stifle political dissent

It allows Republicans to empower Donald Trump to go after enemies at will to put out business hospitals that provide reproductive care to women to label environmental advocates as eco terrorists to target humanitarian organizations or the foundations that support them, to punish news organizations and think tanks that put out research or policies that contradict Donald Trump, to obliterate civil liberties groups who seek to protect those very liberties from authoritarianism. The bill now heads to the Democratic-controlled Senate. And that's the news.

One more thing. Back in 2013, before he launched his journey down the Golden Escalator and into our lives, whether we wanted it or not, Donald Trump was named to the World Wrestling Entertainment Hall of Fame. Here he is thanking former WWE CEO Vince McMahon. Vince and I have had an amazing relationship for many years. And almost everything about Trump makes a lot more sense when you see it through the lens of professional wrestling. Like his pick for education secretary, Linda McMahon, Vince McMahon's wife.

Oh, myself! Oh my God! We mentioned her a little earlier, and there's a lot to say about Linda McMahon, the actual person, like her involvement in allegedly covering up the sexual abuse of young boys and widespread allegations of sex trafficking taking place under her nose while she was working at the WWE, or the horrifying and tragic death of Owen Hart during a wrestling promotion, or basically the entire 1980s in wrestling. But it's worth thinking about her time in the ring, too. Oh, and speaking of WrestleMania events, I can't tell you how good it felt to kick you in,

well, how was it you so delicately put it, your gonads? I could kick you in a lot of places, but I really know where it'll hurt the most. Because she spent a fair amount of time in the ring. Vince, I didn't come here for an apology. You read my lips. I want a divorce. See, no she didn't. Because this wasn't real.

Though, Linda McMahon recently confirmed that the two have separated. There's a concept that comes out of pro wrestling called K-Fabe. Basically, it's a staging of fake events is real. Performance is truth, in other words. Vince McMahon did not actually fight God at Backlash 2006. And Linda McMahon did not actually want to fight her daughter at SmackDown in 2000. But mom, just remember, like you told me when I was a little girl, this is going to hurt me a lot worse than it hurts you.

Get her! Remember to stop now, stop with it! I think that's something to remember about how Trump does pretty much everything. A lot of it is performance. In wrestling parlance, it's a work. When Trump brags about how big his crowd sizes are or demands that his political opponents be put on trial for crimes he just made up, he is performing the part of Donald Trump. But he is actually going to be in charge of our government.

Again. In the lives of millions of Americans are real and so are their concerns. You can't blur the line between reality and performance when you're talking about child hunger or nuclear war. Real is real and fake is fake. Now, Linda McMahon is likely to be in charge of a massive department responsible for kids

with disabilities getting the services they need and ensuring that rural schools receive funding to get kids to school on time. That's not a work, That's not K-Fame. I hope she's ready. I don't think she is. Before we go, a brain worm and confessing to dumping a dead bear in Central Park apparently aren't deal-breakers for Trump's incoming presidential cabinet. So this week on Assembly Required, Stacey is tackling another listener's question to break down what could be the impact of RFK Jr.'s appointment on the FDA, the CDC, and the future of public health in America.

Then she sits down with chef and activist Tom Colicchio to discuss why food insecurity remains such a massive issue in the U.S. and what steps we can take to fix it. Listen to Assembly Required with Stacey Abrams now wherever you get your podcasts, including YouTube. That's all for today. If you liked the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, do not sing at movies, and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading and not just the book Ringmaster to understand way more than

you ever needed to know about WWE, like me, What a Day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at Crooked.com slash subscribe. I'm Jane Coaston, and keep your Theater Kid energy to yourself. What a Day is a production of Crooked Media. It's recorded and mixed by Desmond Taylor. Our associate producer is Raven Yamamoto. Our producer is Michelle Eloy. We have production help today from Tyler Hill, Johanna Case, Joseph Dutra, Greg Walters, and Julia Clare.

Our senior producer is Erica Morrison and our executive producer is Adrian Hill. Our theme music is by Colin Gillyard and Kshaka.