November 21, 2024
Gaetz Pulls Out
Former Representative Matt Gaetz has withdrawn his name from consideration for attorney general. This is really the first significant setback for the incoming administration of President-Elect Donald Trump, but given the increased rumblings about the embattled nominee’s sex trafficking and drug use allegations, it shouldn’t be a tremendous surprise. More and more Republican senators were expressing uncertainty that Gaetz would survive the confirmation process, and Gaetz himself expressed in his statement a desire to not be a distraction for Trump.
As for what’s next for him, that remains unclear. Immediately after being nominated for the top law enforcement position, Gaetz resigned from his seat in Congress — which, incidentally and certainly “coincidentally”, derailed an impending internal ethics investigation levied against him. Technically speaking, though, Gaetz was re-elected to serve in the next Congress which convenes on January 3, so arguably, he could return to Washington as a duly-elected representative.
11/22 Update: In a statement on Friday, Gaetz said that he will not be returning to Congress: “I’m still going to be in the fight, but it’s going to be from a new perch. I do not intend to join the 119th Congress.”
AOC Steps Up to Defend McBride
Last night, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defended incoming Representative Sarah McBride and criticized House Republicans’ plans to ban trans people from using bathrooms on Capitol Hill that match their gender identity. GOP Rep. Nancy Mace just so happened to introduce the measure right after the election of Democrat McBride, who is the first openly transgender person elected to the House. Mace has made it very clear that the measure, which also has the support of Speaker Mike Johnson, is indeed targeting McBride. Ocasio-Cortez told reporters that the proposed restrictions are “endangering all women and girls” because,
“What it inevitably results in are women and girls who are primed for assault because people are going to want to check their private parts in suspecting who is trans and who is cis and who is doing what.”
–Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
It should also be noted that the New York lawmaker’s defense of the incoming Delaware representative came on the evening of the Transgender Day of Remembrance, a day that honors the memory of the transgender people whose lives were lost in acts of anti-transgender violence.
Harris Did Better Than We Thought
As states continue to wrap up the counting of votes from the November 5 election, there have been a few surprising notes that have come up. For one, while yes, Trump did win both the Electoral College and popular votes, his claims of a “mandate” in his victory over Vice President Kamala Harris are definitely looking shaky. Trump’s share of the percentage of votes has dropped below the 50% threshold, meaning that while he won with a plurality of votes, he did not achieve a majority of votes (at present, 49.9% to 46.8%). It’s also worth noting that the 76.8 million votes he received fell short of the staggering 81.3 million votes that current President Joe Biden received in the 2020 election. In fact, Harris, with the current total sitting at 74.3 million votes, has the third highest total number of votes of all time — around 5 million more votes than Barack Obama got in 2008, about 8.5 million more votes than Hillary Clinton received in 2016, and about 100,000 more votes than Trump himself got in 2020. (LINK)
With this as background Democrats are already starting to look ahead to 2028, and according to a new survey just released by Pick News/Echelon Insights, Harris is far and away the favorite to run again, with 41 percent of likely Democratic voters choosing her. In very distant second and third places are Governors Gavin Newsom of California and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, with 8 and 7 percent, respectively. Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg round out the top 5 with 6 percent each.
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