He could also be the sacrificial lamb. He keeps Gaetz in play, and keeps eyes off of his other picks. Then he uses Gaetz as a bargaining chip. He gets Gaetz to step aside or gives the signal that he's ok with Gaetz not getting the spot as long as they're kind to his second choice Everyone's thinking "Whew, at least it's not Gaetz". Meanwhile, the second choice is a loyal bulldog too.
The NRA used a similar strategy for years when dealing with board elections and with government lobbying. They seat a few rough types, then they nominate more. Then they walk it back to more palatable types, that are still 90% of what they wanted.
If Gaetz wins, it's great. But even if he loses, Don might still get most of what he wants.