Even without the sex and drug allegations, Matt Gaetz's nomination should have been doomed

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

29% : It resulted in an early, embarrassing defeat that could have been easily avoided by nominating a better-qualified loyalist, which is what Trump ended up doing.
29% : Contrary to the theories that credit Trump with a Machiavellian motivation, there was no obvious upside to this doomed nomination, and the most plausible explanation is a combination of arrogance and impulsiveness that, depending on your perspective, is either alarming or reassuring.
28% : Gaetz resigned his seat in Congress when Trump announced his nomination, which he evidently hoped would prevent the release of the ethics report because it meant the committee no longer had any jurisdiction over him.
25% : In a report released today, the House Ethics Committee says it found "substantial evidence" that former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), President-elect Donald Trump's first pick for attorney general, paid women thousands of dollars for sex, used illegal drugs, committed statutory rape, and accepted gifts that violated the chamber's rules.
25% : "During the period 2017 to 2019, Representative Gaetz used or possessed illegal drugs, including cocaine and ecstasy, on multiple occasions....
25% : Unlike paying for sex and using illegal drugs, Gaetz's alleged receipt of improper gifts would not have been a crime.
22% : "Representative Gaetz used illegal drugs on numerous occasions between 2017 and 2020, in violation of state laws," the report says.
17% : The same could be said about the allegations that Gaetz used illegal drugs.

*Our bias meter rating uses data science including sentiment analysis, machine learning and our proprietary algorithm for determining biases in news articles. Bias scores are on a scale of -100% to 100% with higher negative scores being more liberal and higher positive scores being more conservative, and 0% being neutral. The rating is an independent analysis and is not affiliated nor sponsored by the news source or any other organization.