Jason Johnson, a college professor and MSNBC contributor, warned that President-Elect Donald Trump’s new pick to lead the Justice Department should instill “fear” in the left because she could actually carry out his agenda.
Trump said Thursday night that he is going to nominate Pam Bondi, who used to be attorney general of Florida, to be the next attorney general of the United States.
The newest cabinet pick takes the place of Matt Gaetz, a former representative from Florida who dropped out as attorney general nominee on Thursday because of the “distraction” his nomination had caused by a lot of claims that he paid underage women for sex.
Johnson told Ari Melber on MSNBC that this is bad news for people who are worried about Trump.
Lawyers for the president of the United States sometimes try to act like they are not their boss’s personal lawyer. That does not make sense at all. “Pam Bondi is exactly what I said in the last part that we should all be afraid of because she is smart,” he said.
“We may not agree with her on issues, but she knows how to do this job,” Johnson told Melber.
“So if anyone on the Democratic side or who cared about freedom or justice was thinking, ‘Well maybe Matt Gaetz will mess this up and that will give us time,’ they were wrong.'” We trust Pam Bondi to do the right thing.
He then told the news host that the fact that she works for the Florida government shows she knows how to use state power to further conservative goals.
When it comes to immigration, she knows what she is doing. Keep in mind that Florida is one of the states that has been very tough on migrants, deportations, moving people to other states, and other things like that.
“Florida has passed a lot of rules and laws that limit what students can do on campus and try to find legal reasons to cheat on their taxes,” Johnson said.
He said, “She is a dangerous and effective pick, and that’s frankly worse than what we would have got with Matt Gaetz, even with the deplorable moral background that he has.”
As Johnson said, he had warned about the idea of a more experienced pick in a previous segment, saying that it would be a much scarier choice for people who are against Trump’s plans.
“I guess I am looking at it from the point of view that I never really thought that Matt Gaetz was a good choice.”
He said, “Trump can call all he wants, but I think there were a lot of people waiting in line to go after him who will not be as offensive and who might actually be more effective.”
“So while it might be a loss in the battle, I don’t necessarily think it’s a victory in the war against what may be an AG that ushers in an authoritarian type of presidency that affects the fundamental rights of American citizens,” Johnson said.