Senator Lindsey Graham doesn’t care what the ethics report on Matt Gaetz says; he doesn’t think alleged sexual misconduct should knock Donald Trump’s nominee out of the running for attorney general.

CNN’s Manu Raju asked Graham Tuesday for his response to the “serious allegations of sexual misconduct” against Gaetz. Before Raju had even finished speaking, Graham was already shaking his head.

“Nobody should be disqualified from a media report,” Graham replied.

Asked Lindsey Graham if the sexual misconduct allegations involving Gaetz, including sex with a minor (which Gaetz denies), gives him pause, Graham said: “Nobody should be disqualified because of a media report.” pic.twitter.com/ZOiFZKyV3u

The House Ethics Committee is set to vote Wednesday on whether or not to release the report on its yearslong ethics investigation into Gaetz over allegations of sexual misconduct, including sexual conduct with a minor. It was previously reported that two women testified that Gaetz had paid them for sex, and one testified that he’d also had sex with her underage friend, per the lawyer representing the women. Even if the report confirms this, it apparently wouldn’t be reason enough for Graham to abandon ship.

Gaetz called Graham as part of his effort to consolidate Republican support for Trump’s nominee, CNN reported. Gaetz and Trump’s nominee to head the Department of Defense, Pete Hegseth, have been on the offensive to shore up support for their respective unsavory nominations. Hegseth reportedly paid a woman who accused him of sexually assaulting her as part of a nondisclosure agreement. Both Hegseth and Gaetz have denied any wrongdoing.

Last week, Graham admitted that it might not be easy for Trump’s nominees to get approved by the Senate. “Every nominee will have to acquit themselves well during the confirmation process by answering difficult questions and having their actions scrutinized,” Graham said.

Donald Trump has decided to nominate TV personality Dr. Mehmet Oz to serve as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator.

Trump issued a statement Tuesday announcing the move, saying, “There may be no Physician more qualified and capable than Dr. Oz to Make America Healthy Again.”

Oz ran for the Senate in 2022 in Pennsylvania, earning Trump’s endorsement against Democrat John Fetterman, but lost even after Fetterman suffered a stroke resulting in unfavorable media attention. Oz’s bumbling Senate campaign was full of gaffes, including the inconvenient fact that he was a resident of New Jersey and not the Keystone State.

Prior to all of that, Oz was best known for peddling “miracle” medical cures and quack diet solutions on daytime television, which ultimately led to him being dressed down at a congressional hearing. Oz has tried to explain all of this away by claiming that he is an entertainer, not a doctor, which certainly undercuts whatever credibility Trump thinks he will bring to this new government position.

Trump and Oz know each other at least going back to the president-elect’s first campaign, when he appeared on Oz’s TV show for a softball interview in 2016 and deflected questions about his own health while taking subtle jabs at his opponent Hillary Clinton’s health.

After listing Oz’s résumé, which obviously made no mention of his medical transgressions, Trump’s statement Tuesday closed with, “I have known Dr. Oz for many years, and I am confident he will fight to ensure everyone in America receives the best possible Healthcare, so our Country can be Great and Healthy Again!”

With Oz and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a noted anti-vaxxer and medical conspiracist, both taking on health care leadership positions in Trump’s administration, the next four years may lead to extensive damage to American public health.

JD Vance deleted his social media meltdown calling a Donald Trump ally a “mouth breathing imbecile” Tuesday, after she scolded him for not showing up to his job—and defied the president-elect in the process.

As the Senate Democrats race to approve President Joe Biden’s remaining judicial nominees, before they lose the majority at the beginning of next year, Republicans have become anxious that more Republican senators aren’t showing up to vote against the president’s picks.

Grace Chong, COO and CFO of Steve Bannon’s War Room, a far-right media company, posted on X Tuesday morning urging Vance and Senator Marco Rubio to “show up and do your one freakin job!!”

Shortly after that, Trump made a similar post on Truth Social. “The Democrats are trying to stack the Courts with Radical Left Judges on their way out the door. Republican Senators need to Show Up and Hold the Line—No more Judges confirmed before Inauguration Day,” Trump wrote.

Vance couldn’t take the heat.

“Grace Chong is a mouth breathing imbecile who attacks those of us in the fight rather than make herself useful,” Vance fumed in a........

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