Four takeaways from Matt Gaetz's exit as attorney general nominee

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

67% : Both Gaetz and Trump in social media posts claimed that Gaetz was doing well but had become a "distraction" - a PR word that often gets bandied about in untenable circumstances.
56% : Some have gone as far as to suggest it's time to just give Trump pretty much whatever he wants, including his Cabinet picks.
55% : It's also a sign that institutions - or at least a few members of them - can still stand up to Trump, and a remarkably swift conclusion to what could be a series of tussles between Trump and his own party.
48% : Institutions can still stand up to TrumpTrump has claimed that the 2024 election gave him a huge mandate, and Republicans have largely echoed that line.
46% : Trump has also signaled he'll push his political and policy norm-breaking quite a bit further than in his first term.
44% : But just because this was predictable doesn't mean it's not bad for Trump.
39% : But regardless, this is an early signal that institutions - whether Republican senators, the legal and ethics systems, and/or the media - can still provide a significant check on Trump, if they are so inclined.
38% : And seeing Republican senators give lukewarm quotes about him and choose to fight against him more privately doesn't exactly suggest they feel empowered to publicly stand up to Trump.
28% : Trump chose to spend some of his earliest post-election political capital on this fight, daring Republican senators to defy him just a week after his election.
28% : A handful of senators with reservations about Gaetz is far from the entire Senate, even as the opposition was apparently enough to make him and Trump think twice about moving forward.
28% : What it means for Trump's other picksWhen Trump picked Gaetz last week, theories abounded about how maybe this wasn't all that it seemed - that it wasn't truly about getting Gaetz installed as attorney general.
26% : Trump undoubtedly cares less about the idea that his political capital is damaged than your average politician.
24% : It was a sizable early setback for Trump, just more than two weeks after his triumphant 2024 election win.
18% : It would be one thing if Republicans fought over Gaetz for months, and Trump supporters were able to send a strong signal that opposing Trump would come with a cost (including public attacks and primaries).
11% : That there was apparently nobody around Trump willing or able to caution him against Gaetz doesn't augur well for what lies ahead.

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