A Trump adviser familiar with the process explained to The Bulwark:
“None of the other attorneys had what Trump wants, and they didn’t talk like Gaetz. Everyone else looked at AG as if they were applying for a judicial appointment. They talked about their vaunted legal theories and constitutional bullshit. Gaetz was the only one who said, ‘Yeah, I’ll go over there and start cuttin’ fuckin’ heads.’”
“Many people argue that this pandemic was a ‘plandemic,’ that it was planned from the outset, it’s part of a sinister scheme. I can’t tell you the answer to that. I don’t have enough evidence. A lot of it feels very planned to me. I don’t know. I will tell you this: If you create these mechanisms for control, they become weapons of obedience for authoritarian regimes no matter how beneficial or innocent the people who created them.”
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr., quoted by The Bulwark in August 2020.
Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Defense Secretary, said on a podcast this week that he supported a system of “classical Christian schools” to provide the recruits for “an underground army” that will eventually launch an “educational insurgency” to take over the United States.
Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) reportedly was using his “adopted” son’s PayPal account to pay women for sex, the Washington Post reports.
“Linda McMahon, President-elect Donald Trump’s choice as education secretary, incorrectly claimed in 2009 that she had a bachelor’s degree in education on a questionnaire for a Connecticut Board of Education post,” the Washington Post reports.
“The error on the questionnaire was reported by the Hartford Courant during her unsuccessful campaign for the U.S. Senate in 2010. She said at the time that she mistakenly thought her degree was in education because she did a semester of student teaching.”
“As Donald Trump prepares to begin his second four-year term, one cruise company is giving Americans the choice to opt out and escape,” The Guardian reports.
“The residential cruise line Villa Vie Residences announced earlier in November that it was launching a program that will allow travelers to join its ship, the Odyssey, at any port as it traverses around the world for the next several years. The trip is expected to travel to 425 ports across 140 countries, and the program will cost less than $40,000 a year.”
“The program is being offered in one-, two-, three-, and four-year packages. The one-year package is called Escape From Reality and the two-year package is called Mid-term Selection.”
Donald Trump campaign issued an unusual statement, preemptively saying it will not comment on forthcoming book from Michael Wolff:
“As a group, we have decided not to respond to his bad faith inquiries, and we encourage others to completely disregard whatever nonsense he eventually publishes. Consider this our blanket response to whatever he writes,” read the statement signed by 15 staffers.”
Wolff had recently told the Daily Beast that Jeffrey Epstein had photos of Trump with “topless young women” sitting in his lap.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told NBC News that women and racial diversity are vital to the strength of U.S. armed forces.
Said Austin: “I have spent 41 years in uniform, three long tours in Iraq, one in Afghanistan, and everywhere I went on a battlefield, there were women in our formation. I would tell you that, you know, our women are the finest troops in the world. Quite frankly, some of the finest in the world.”
He added: “They do impact readiness. They make us better. They make us stronger. And again, what I’ve seen from our women is quite incredible, and I’m not — this is not hyperbole. This is fact.”
“Donald Trump may be interested in using steep new tariffs to pay for tax cuts next year, an idea that would force Congress to vote on his aggressive trade agenda,” Semafor reports.
“Republican lawmakers, however, are far from sold. Some are already panning the prospect.”
Said Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY): “I don’t like tariffs, Number One. I think the consumer pays them. So they’re regressive. They’re a sales tax, basically.”
Washington Post: “Vance will be on Capitol Hill today, ushering embattled attorney general nominee Matt Gaetz around Senate offices as the House Ethics Committee decides if they’ll release a report into Gaetz’s alleged sex trafficking and illicit drug use.”
“It’s a split screen that even the best, most experienced hand would struggle to handle. But for Vance, it’s the latest of what is likely to be many difficult tasks imposed by Trump throughout his term. As we reported last week, one of Vance’s key roles over the next four years will be to work closely with the Senate to ensure Trump’s agenda and priorities move through Congress, especially the Senate.”
Punchbowl News: “It’s no secret what Senate Republicans think of Gaetz. At this point, GOP senators are hoping Gaetz’s nomination doesn’t even advance far enough that they have to vote on it. There’s a significant number of Republicans who would vote no. This is even before the controversy over the House Ethics Committee’s investigation into Gaetz.”
The Hill: Trump team ramps up pressure on Senate GOP to approve controversial nominees.
The Democrats’ generational divide is emerging as a key factor in the race to lead the DNC, as many in the party hope to move on from older leaders like Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi, Politico reports.
“In the weeks before Election Day, aides to Kamala Harris could see in campaign polling that Donald Trump’s attacks on Ms. Harris’s support for transgender rights were driving away swing voters,” the New York Times reports.
“Struggling to put together a rebuttal, they produced a series of ads arguing that Mr. Trump was trying to distract from more important issues. Some of the spots noted that the policy Mr. Trump was seizing on, taxpayer-funded gender-transition surgery for inmates, was in place when he was president.”
“But none of the messages significantly swayed voters when the ads were tested with focus groups… After a sharp, internal debate, the campaign shelved the ads.”
CNN: Republican’s effort to block first transgender House member from using women’s bathrooms brings campaign issue to the Capitol.
The House Ethics Committee “meets today to discuss whether to release their investigative report on Matt Gaetz, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general,” Semafor reports.
“The evenly-divided, 10-member panel requires a simple majority to release findings that reportedly center around alleged sexual misconduct with a minor, which Gaetz has denied.”
Punchbowl News: “It’s uncertain whether there will be a straight up or down vote on releasing the report. It would take just one Republican to cross party lines and vote to release the report, although that’s very unlikely to happen. Democrats are united in calling for its release.”
“And then there’s the ‘nuclear option’ of a Democrat on the Ethics Committee just leaking the report or trying to enter it into the Congressional Record, moves that could jeopardize the entire future of the panel. In other words, the stakes couldn’t be higher here.”
ABC News: Ethics Committee to meet, but it’s not clear if vote on Gaetz report is on its agenda.
MSNBC’s Morning Joe turned off comments on their social media platforms and stopped posting clips of the show, following backlash from hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski meeting with Donald Trump.
“President-elect Trump’s Cabinet increasingly resembles a European-style coalition government, staffed with a dizzying array of ideological rivals united — for now — by a grand MAGA vision,” Axios reports.
“The incoming administration has a little something for everyone: isolationists and hawks, populists and bankers — even a couple of lifelong Democrats who ran for president against Trump.”
“Some supporters have praised Trump for the eclectic mix of nominees, saying it reflects the broad range of Americans who voted decisively for a new Washington.”
“But if Trump’s first term is any indication, his Cabinet of contradictions also could invite volatility and infighting that eventually spills into public view.”
“President-elect Trump is looking more seriously at Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) for Treasury secretary — giving Trump three serious options for one of the few roles where he’s taking his time,” Axios reports.
“Hagerty, a former private-equity investor who was Trump’s ambassador to Japan, is one of three apparent finalists, along with former Fed governor Kevin Warsh and Apollo CEO Marc Rowan.”
Playbook: “Just how much of a cushion will House Republicans have in their majority next year? Things are looking increasingly hairy for Speaker Mike Johnson as vote counting continues in California. GOP Rep. John Duarte’s lead dwindled yesterday while fellow Republican Michelle Steel fell further behind in the latest vote tallies.”
“If Duarte loses and other current leads hold, Republicans could be left with 220 seats at full strength. And with three expected vacancies due to Trump Cabinet nominations, the House could spend months at 217-215 — meaning Republicans could not lose a single member on a straight party-line vote.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.