President-elect Donald Trump's selection of Rep. Matt Gaetz to become the nation's attorney general was met with shock Wednesday, including from fellow Republicans. Massachusetts' Democratic attorney general was among those highly critical of the pick.
Trump announced Wednesday that Gaetz, a firebrand lawmaker from Florida, was his nominee for the top law enforcement post in the U.S.
Speaking Wednesday at a children's mental health event at the JFK Library and Museum in Boston, Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell of Massachusetts blasted the move.
"I got caught up in a lot of conversations with respect to who was just nominated to be, possibly, the next attorney general of this country," Campbell told the crowd at "Voices From the Front Lines," an event hosted by Boston Community Pediatrics.
Her mention of Gaetz's name was met with some audible boos.
She said Gaetz is "currently under investigation for several allegations, including allegations of abuse and assault and sexual assault against children."
While he was not criminally charged, Gaetz was the subject of a federal investigation into the alleged sex trafficking of a 17-year-old girl. The Justice Department ended its probe last year.
The House Ethics Committee has been investigating Gaetz for allegations involving sexual misconduct and drug use.
After his nomination Wednesday, Gaetz submitted a resignation letter, which Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said is effective immediately. The move deprives the ethics committee of jurisdiction and ends its investigation.
Campbell also pointed to Gaetz's positions on reproductive rights and LGBTQ+ issues as causes for concern, adding that he "has said that he would revoke federal funding to organizations, including nonprofit health care organizations, that help migrants."
She told those in attendance that state attorneys general will play a role in addressing the needs of their constituencies, no matter what is happening with the federal government.
"Right now across the country, the AGs, including myself, will be on the front lines to protect everything that we hold valuable here in Massachusetts, including the incredible organizations such as this one that are doing innovative and remarkable work in the health care space," she said.
Speaking with NBC10 Boston after the event, Campbell reiterated her apprehension about the man who could hold her position on a national scale.
"This is also someone who does not believe, I think, in the rule of law [and] absolutely is not qualified," she said. "I'm all for supporting the president-elect as we transition this power, it is a basic tenet of our democracy, but at the same time, clear-eyed about what can jeopardize and risk what we're trying to do here in Massachusetts."
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Both on stage and in her remarks to NBC10 Boston, Campbell said that Gaetz is a "Holocaust denier."
Gaetz came under fire in 2018 for bringing a white nationalist who questioned the Holocaust as a guest to Trump's State of the Union address, later claiming he was not aware of the man's views.
While NBC10 Boston did not find evidence of Gaetz denying the Holocaust himself, the State of the Union incident is not the only case that has prompted allegations of antisemitism.
Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt — who praised Trump's selections of Sen. Marco Rubio as secretary of state and Mike Huckabee as ambassador to Israel — lambasted the nomination Wednesday.
"Rep. Matt Gaetz has a long history of trafficking in antisemitism — from explaining his vote against the bipartisan Antisemitism Awareness Act by invoking the centuries-old trope that Jews killed Jesus to defending the Great Replacement Theory and inviting a Holocaust denier as his 2018 State of the Union guest," he wrote on social media. "He should not be appointed to any high office, much less one overseeing the impartial execution of our nation's laws."
Trump's nominees will need to be approved by the majority of the Senate. Republicans will hold a slim majority with 52 or 53 seats, depending on the result of a recount in Pennsylvania. Several GOP senators have already called into question whether Gaetz will have enough support.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said he would face "a significant challenge," adding that she doesn't think he's "a serious nomination for the attorney general." Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said she was "certain that there will be a lot of questions," pointing to the House Ethics Committee investigation. And Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota called his confirmation "a long shot."
