Former White House attorney Ty Cobb, who served in the role during President-elect Trump’s first term, said his onetime boss’s decision to nominate former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) as attorney general is a “f‑‑‑ you to America.”
Cobb, speaking on CNN’s “OutFront” after Trump made the announcement Wednesday, was asked by Erin Burnett why he described it that way.
“This is just a shocking event, and intentionally so. I mean, he’s a disrupter, Trump is,” Cobb said. “But Matt Gaetz is just simply unqualified, both academically, professionally, ethically, morally and experientially.”
He explained that when the Florida Republican visited the White House during Trump’s first term, the staffers would throw up red flags, look the other way and “hope he wasn’t there to visit him [or] visit them.”
“So, this is … just not a serious choice,” Cobb said.
Trump’s tapping of Gaetz sent a shocking signal that he intends to follow through with his campaign promises. The former congressman resigned from Congress immediately after receiving the nomination.
Gaetz, who has been the subject of a Justice Department investigation in the past, has been a staunch ally of the president-elect.
Critics have long expressed concerns that the department could go after Trump’s political enemies, as he suggested it would while on the campaign trail.
Republican’s initial reaction to Trump’s decision to pick Gaetz was split. South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham urged his fellow Republicans to “give Matt a chance,” while others questioned his qualifications and likelihood to be confirmed by the Senate. Democrats, meanwhile, sounded the alarm on what the nomination could mean for democracy if he’s confirmed.
