Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) on Oct. 12. Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images

By Jacob Kornbluh November 13, 2024

President-elect Donald Trump raised eyebrows Wednesday when he nominated Matt Gaetz, a Floridian whose years in the House were marked by allegations including sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, to head the Justice Department. Gaetz resigned his House seat shortly after Trump’s announcement and two days before the House Ethics Committee was set to vote on releasing its investigation report on his conduct.

Gaetz, who with other renegade GOP colleagues has tried to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson, is widely disliked within Congress, and Jewish groups have long accused him of trafficking in antisemitism. Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said Gaetz should never be confirmed as attorney general. “He should not be appointed to any high office, much less one overseeing the impartial execution of our nation’s laws,” Greenblatt tweeted.

Gaetz, 42, faced backlash earlier this year when he explained his vote against a bipartisan bill aimed at addressing rising antisemitism in colleges and universities by invoking an antisemitic falsehood: that Jews killed Jesus.

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The Antisemitism Awareness Act would require the Department of Education to use the controversial International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism — which classifies most anti-Zionism as antisemitic — when investigating allegations of discrimination. It passed the House in May 320-91.

The Justice Department oversees the prosecution of violent extremism and hate crimes. If confirmed by the Senate, Gaetz would succeed Attorney General Merrick Garland, a Jewish former federal judge.

A history of controversial remarks and action

Gaetz called the Anti-Defamation League “racist” in 2021 after it urged Fox News to fire then-host Tucker Carlson for promoting the antisemitic great replacement theory. In 2019, Gaetz suggested that George Soros, the Hungarian-born Jewish billionaire and frequent target of antisemitic tropes, was behind an alleged migrant caravan.

In his first term in the House, Gaetz defended giving a ticket for the State of the Union to Chuck Johnson, a right-wing troll who once denied the Holocaust. He also hired a Trump White House speechwriter who was fired after it was reported he appeared at a conference featuring a white nationalist.

During a House Judiciary Committee hearing in November 2023, Gaetz grilled Pamela Nadell, the director of the Jewish studies program at American University, over whether it was possible to criticize Jewish megadonor and Holocaust survivor George Soros without being antisemitic.

Greenblatt took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to blast the nomination.

Amy Spitalnick, chief executive of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, said it was “deeply concerning ” that Gaetz was nominated with this history. “If he is to serve as attorney general, he should unequivocally make clear that he rejects all forms of hate and bigotry,” she said.

Rep. Max Miller, a Jewish Republican from Ohio, also blasted the nomination. “Gaetz has a better shot at having dinner with Queen Elizabeth II than being confirmed by the Senate,” Miller said, adding that Gaetz is “a reckless pick” with “a zero percent shot.”

The American Jewish Committee urged Trump to reconsider the nomination, calling Gaetz’s past remarks “disqualifying” for being the nation’s chief law enforcement officer. “At a time of historic levels of antisemitism, we need someone at the helm of the Department of Justice who will tackle antisemitism — not peddle in it,” the AJC said.

JTA contributed to this report.

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