‘Do Not Say That’: Jake Tapper Admonishes Guest for Claiming Trump’s Nominees Can’t Get Worse Than Matt Gaetz

HOOVER: “And if he were putting up anybody who was even plausibly qualified and respectable, then there would — then he — you know, this is — to the thing that Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz just said, elections do have consequences and this could be much easier for him if he would pick qualified, respectable, like, individuals who — it’s OK if you’re a Republican and you appoint a Republican attorney general. Just have somebody of the stature of the before times where the Overton window hasn’t shifted so badly that you get people that are so stained that it’s — it’s so frustrating, Jake. It is so frustrating.”

TAPPER: “I feel like I’m looking — I feel like I’m looking through a portal into 2014.”

HOOVER: “I know, I know. 2012, ‘14, ‘10. For, you know, the first decade of the 20th century — 21st century. But that’s not where we live now.”

TAPPER: “So —“

KATZ: “I would just jump in to say that, Matt Gaetz, he’s the floor, right? He’s the absolute floor of a nomination.”

TAPPER: “Oh, let me just say — let me — I’m sorry. I’ve been covering —“

HOOVER: “He haven’t even gotten to Hegseth yet.”

TAPPER: “I’ve been covering politics for a long time. Do not say that, because it will get worse.”

KATZ: “Fair enough. But I’m just saying, usually for cabinet-level positions, you’re looking at resumes of deeply qualified people for the job. Donald Trump is looking at head shots, right? He is looking at these candidates and thinking who would look, who would play one on TV?”

TAPPER: “Who’s defended him well on Fox? That’s really honestly the question.”

KATZ: “And this is not — it’s not about who’s loyal to Donald Trump. At the end of the day, it should be about who’s loyal to the Constitution, but not in Donald Trump’s America. And that’s where we are right now.”