Liberals across the political spectrum are reacting with outrage and disbelief Wednesday to President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of Republican Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz as the next Attorney General.

Many say they see this as a dire blow to American democracy, framing Gaetz’s nomination as a calculated test of Senate Republicans’ loyalty and a signal of Trump’s commitment to using the Department of Justice as a tool of political retribution. Critics say that Gaetz lacks both the qualifications and the impartiality essential for the nation’s top legal role.

Former prosecutor Andrew Weissmann called Gaetz’s nomination a “laughing stock on the right,” accusing Trump of appointing someone who is not only unqualified but emblematic of the “weaponization” of government. In an appearance on MSNBC’s “Deadline: White House,” Weissmann warned of a dystopian scenario reminiscent of 1984, where facts and law hold little weight.

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“They are untethered to the facts and maybe also the law. So that shouldn’t be surprising, and the other is really this idea that somehow Matt Gaetz is going to be the person who prevents and stops weaponization when he is the exhibit A to weaponization. I mean, we are in pure George Orwell 1984 land, where, you know, they say black is white and we’re supposed to believe it,” Weissmann said.

Democratic Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy expressed astonishment and said that even Republican senators reacted with “jaws dropping to the floor” when they heard the news. Murphy argued that Gaetz’s lack of qualifications is only part of the problem and more concerning is his open support for Trump’s past attempts to subvert democratic norms, including his role in defending Trump’s actions on January 6.

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“The entire credibility of government rests upon the belief that law enforcement is there to protect all of us. That it is an independent entity. It is not just to be used at the political whim of the president. Matt Gaetz is being nominated because he will be and is today a political agent of Donald Trump. The ramifications of this pick, this particular pick, are stunning and potentially cataclysmic for American democracy. I hope that some Senate Republicans will see that,” Murphy said.

MSNBC co-host Symone Sanders-Townsend echoed these concerns, asserting that Gaetz’s nomination is a “test” to see if Senate Republicans will blindly follow Trump’s choices. She suggested that this move could expose whether key Republicans, such as Senator John Thune, will stand up against Trump’s nominees or quietly fall in line.

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“Matt Gaetz is also very interesting, again, what are the qualifications if you will, and can these people get through a Senate confirmation process? … I think this is a test frankly, and it’s a test for Senate Republicans to see if Senate Republicans are going to [do,] what is their posture going to be in this new Washington D.C. world order as it relates to Donald Trump,” Sanders-Townsend said.

Trump announced on TruthSocial his intent to nominate Gaetz as attorney general, praising him as a “deeply gifted and tenacious attorney” with a law degree from William & Mary. Trump expressed confidence that Gaetz would address issues of “Weaponized Government” and bring crucial reform to the Department of Justice.

“Matt is a deeply gifted and tenacious attorney, trained at the William & Mary College of Law, who has distinguished himself in Congress through his focus on achieving desperately needed reform at the Department of Justice,” Trump wrote in the Truth Social post.