Florida politicos react to Matt Gaetz withdrawing from Attorney General consideration

Eight days after Donald Trump caused jaws around the world to drop by picking conservative Florida flamethrower Matt Gaetz for Attorney General, Gaetz is out.

Predictably, reactions from Sunshine State politicos are all over the map.

Gaetz, who resigned from Congress on Nov. 13 just hours after Trump nominated him, announced on X Thursday afternoon that he was withdrawing his name from consideration for the Attorney General job.

“While the momentum was strong,” he said of his chances of securing enough support in the U.S. Senate, “it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition.”

Gaetz made no mention in the post of the House Ethics Committee inquiry into whether he had sex with a minor, consumed illegal drugs and granted special favors to romantic interests. His resignation ended just days before a report was due to the panel.

But he did allude to it two hours earlier in a post about opposition research used against Trump during the 2016 presidential race.

“Years-old allegations of a sexual / salacious nature from sources (the Department of Justice) previously deemed not credible (and) assembled by people with a political motive,” he wrote. “The Steele Dossier really was shameful.”

His wife, Ginger Gaetz, shared the post regarding his withdrawal, writing: “The end of an era.” Some speculated this meant the couple were done with D.C. politics.

Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, “I greatly appreciate the recent efforts of Matt Gaetz in seeking approval to be Attorney General. He was doing very well but, at the same time, did not want to be a distraction for the Administration, for which he has much respect. Matt has a wonderful future, and I look forward to watching all of the great things he will do!”

U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a St. Petersburg Republican and staunch Gaetz ally, agreed with the President-elect.

“Something tells me we haven’t heard the last of @MattGaetz,” she wrote on X. “Thank you for your service to our country.”

State Rep. Alex Andrade also responded to the news.

“I’m disappointed to see Congressman Gaetz’s announcement today. As always though, with this new turn of events, there are a lot of career politicians anxiously awaiting what he does next and what his decision means for their careers.”

Meanwhile, Democratic U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell of California used Gaetz’s announcement to gloat.

“As I said repeatedly last week, Matt Gaetz is never, ever becoming Attorney General. Like ever,” he wrote on X.

Democratic state Rep. Anna Eskamani of Orlando advised those celebrating Gaetz’s departure from the Attorney General’s sweepstakes to temper their elation, since Trump could still give him another post.

She added that Gaetz may still be able to reclaim his old job and that no matter how things pan out, it shouldn’t preclude the ethics report from being shared with the public.

“This is great news but the ethics report should still be released & he resigned from the *current* Congress not the future Congress … feel free to fact check me on this but he might be able to still return to Congress,” she wrote on X. “I’m sure Trump will just nominate him for something else.”

Many people on the platform from both sides of the political aisle posited that Gov. Ron DeSantis could elevate Gaetz to the U.S. Senate as a replacement for Marco Rubio, whom Trump has tapped for Secretary of State.

Whether or not that happens, former state Rep. Anthony Sabatini, a Howey-in-the-Hills Republican, thinks Gaetz should run to replace DeSantis two years from now.

“GOVERNOR @MattGaetz 2026!!!” he wrote.