Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz withdrew his name for the nomination as U.S. Attorney General on Thursday. One University at Buffalo political analyst believes a couple of factors weighed in.
UB's Shawn Donahue says one factor may be Gaetz would face more allegations.
"There was some reporting there was potentially a second alleged sexual incident with a minor, and also he was facing the fact that the House Ethics Committee report may have came out and been pretty bad for him," said Donahue in an interview with WBEN.
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Another factor Donahue points to is Gaetz's meetings with senators on Wednesday.
"For some of the more establishment, moderate Republicans, it just didn't seem like they were willing to vote for Gaetz. He's not known as somebody that's particularly well liked on Capitol Hill," Donahue said.
Donahue says President-elect Trump hoped Senate Republicans would be pretty loyal after the election and approve whomever he chose.
"But I think he found that there was a lot more opposition within the Republican Party in the Senate to Gaetz, and even most House Republicans are not a big fan of him, especially after his motion to vacate that took Kevin McCarthy out of the speakership last year," Donahue said.
What does this mean for Trump's other nominees?
"There's more ability for some more moderate or establishment Republicans to stand up to some of these picks that they find that are a little bit out there," Donahue said.
He adds among those include Pete Hegseth, Tulsi Gabbard, and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.