Photo via Gage Skidmore/Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)
March 31, 2021, 11:25 am
As the world of Representative Matt Gaetz unravels following the breaking of Gaetzgate (Gaetz’s preferred term), his fellow Republicans appear to be using this opportunity to drop some long pent-up feelings they held about the congressman, and none of them are good.
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According to Business Insider, drawing from “interviews with 18 current and former GOP and White House sources,” nobody likes that guy.
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“He’s the meanest person in politics,” said one source.
Another predicted that the leaders of Gaetz’s party would likely let the congressman’s ship sink without doing much, if anything, to help.
“Republican leadership will likely watch him completely implode in a matter of days without having to do a thing,” they said.
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Others who are familiar with Gaetz’s relationship with Donald Trump, including former White House aides under the Trump administration, are expressing everything from relief to vindication as they watch this train wreck unfold. Gaetz had his ego inflated by Trump, who called him “one of the finest and most talented people in Congress” in 2018.
But Trump’s aides disliked Gaetz so much that they acted to try and limit the congressman’s influence on the former president, because apparently Gaetz could have made him even worse than he was.
“Good riddance,” said one of these aides on Gaetzgate. “It sounds like he let whatever BS power he thought he had go to his head and he thought himself above the law.”
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Other Republicans trashed Gaetz as being an opportunist who only cares about his own power and image and not at all about his constituents or doing the right thing for the people.
“The congressman is one of those that came to Washington to make an impression for fame and fortune rather than accomplishing anything in Washington for his constituents,” said a Republican campaign consultant.
“He’s not in the legislative business,” said a Republican House staffer. “He’s just out there to blow s–t up and get on TV.”
Gaetz did get on TV last night and likely managed to burn at least one more bridge when he veered from talking about the sex trafficking allegations against himself to bring up a sexual assault allegation against his host, Tucker Carlson, from years ago. Carlson, who has in the past defended Gaetz and appeared to be an ally, called the segment “one of the weirdest interviews I’ve ever conducted,” which is not when you want when you’re trying to defend yourself against federal crimes.
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Though the investigation is still underway, Gaetz could face 10 years to life in prison if found guilty of trafficking a minor across state lines.
*First Published: March 31, 2021, 11:25 am
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