Matt Gaetz

[[File:Matt Gaetz 117th Congress portrait (crop).jpg|thumb|right|165px|Gaetz's Congressional portrait. Also that forehead.]]
{{uspolitics}}
{{cquote|I realize that we are occasionally given to [[hyperbole]] about the untoward nature of politicians, but let me be clear: Matt Gaetz is a [[sex trafficking]] [[Drug abuse|drug addicted]] piece of shit. He is abhorrent. His eyes are permanently rimmed with the red rings of chemical boosters. In person, he smells like overexposed Axe Body Spray and stale Astroglide. The fact that he boasted on the floor to multiple colleagues in the [[House of Representatives]] of his methods of crushing Viagra and high test Red Bull to maintain his erection through his orgiastic evenings is perhaps the least offensive of his many crimes against womanhood and [[Christian]] [[faith]]. The man has less principles than your average fentanyl addicted hobo. He likes them underage and he’s not ashamed about it. Matt Gaetz isn’t just your average extreme [[Florida]] [[MAGA]] Man, he’s a [[hypocritical]] ass with the worst Botox money can buy, pursuing an ever-thinner nose and higher cheekbones at every opportunity like a Real Housewife gone mad for fillers. Every [[Republican]] in Washington has an opinion about Matt Gaetz, and 99 percent of those opinions are "Keep Matt Gaetz away from my wife/daughter/friend and anyone I care about."|||Ben Domenech, [[Fox News]] commentator<ref>[https://thetransom.com/p/matt-gaetz-is-a-vile-sex-pest-and Matt Gaetz is a Vile Sex Pest and Any Senator Who Votes For Him Owns That: Crush Some Viagra And Pour The Red Bull In Your Veins] by Ben Domenech (Nov 14, 2024) ''The Transom, Substack''.</ref>}}
'''Matthew Louis Gaetz II''' (a.k.a., The Venmo Lester<ref>[https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/news/jimmy-kimmel-nicknames-matt-gaetz-caucasian-diddy-and-the-venmo-lester-amid-sex-trafficking-accusations/ar-AA1urrru Jimmy Kimmel Nicknames Matt Gaetz “Caucasian Diddy” And The “Venmo-lester” Amid Sex Trafficking Accusations] by Radhamely De Leon (November 2024) ''MSN''.</ref>) {{lived|1982}} is a [[Alt-right glossary#Woke|woke-obsessed]], [[far-right]], alleged sex offender ([[statutory rape]], interstate [[prostitution]])<ref name="CBSreport">Michael Kaplan and Margaret Brennan (November 13, 2024). [https://www.cbsnews.com/news/house-ethics-committee-planned-vote-gaetz-report-release/ "House Ethics Committee planned to vote Friday on whether to release report on Matt Gaetz"]. ''CBS News''.</ref><ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/12/23/matt-gaetz-ethics-report/ House Ethics report says Matt Gaetz regularly paid for sex, including payment to an underage girl] by The former congressman regularly paid for sex, possessed illegal drugs and paid a 17-year-old girl for sex in 2017, according to a 42-page report released by the House Ethics Committee on Monday on President-elect Donald Trump’s former pick for attorney general.] by Jacqueline Alemany & Justine McDaniel (December 23, 2024).</ref><ref name=ethics>[https://ethics.house.gov/press-releases/statement-of-the-committee-on-ethics-regarding-representative-matt-gaetz-2/ Statement of the Committee on Ethics Regarding Representative Matt Gaetz] (Dec 23, 2024) ''Committee on Ethics, United States House of Representatives''.</ref> former congressman who served as a [[Republican|Republican]] [[Representative]] for [[Florida]]'s 1<sup>st</sup> district in the Florida panhandle from 2017 to 2024, and is close allies with [[MTG]] and [[Lauren Boebert]] in the [[Freedom Caucus]]. He was also one of the Congressmen most responsible for getting [[Kevin McCarthy]] removed from his position as Speaker of the House in 2023.<ref name=SMN>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-6LR32EawI Loud, Celebrity Politicians – Part One: The GOP - SOME MORE NEWS] YouTube</ref>

==Matt & Donald==
Gaetz is most known for his unapologetic love of [[Donald Trump]], once being called a "proud Trump protege" by Politico.<ref>[https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/04/03/matt-gaetz-trump-sessions-mueller-recuse-217764/ Trump’s Best Buddy in Congress Wants Sessions to Fire Mueller] Politico</ref> Gaetz is such a big Trump fan he attempted to get the President a [[Nobel Prize|Nobel Peace Prize]] in 2018.<ref>[https://www.pnj.com/story/news/2018/05/02/matt-gaetz-republicans-nominating-trump-nobel-peace-prize/575033002/ Matt Gaetz joins Republican lawmakers in nominating Trump for Nobel Peace Prize] Pensacola News Journal</ref> 

Gaetz first gained national attention through defending Trump during the [[Mueller investigation|investigation by Robert Mueller]]. Of note was his attempt to get Mueller to recuse himself because of non-existent conflicts of interest in November 2017<ref>[https://www.businessinsider.com/republicans-introduce-bill-to-remove-bob-mueller-from-special-counsel-2017-11 Republicans just introduced a resolution to remove Mueller from the Trump-Russia investigation] Business Insider</ref> and his claim that the only reason then-Attorney General [[Jeff Sessions]] had failed to fire Mueller was because "he's become sympathetic with his captors over there in the [[Deep State]]."<ref>[https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2018/05/22/matt-gaetz-tapper-who-is-deep-state-sot-lead.cnn Tapper presses lawmaker: Who is the deep state?] CNN</ref>

When the investigation turned to impeachment, things only got worse for Gaetz. In October 2019, Gaetz put national security at risk through organizing a "storming" of a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility on Capitol Hill along with two dozen of his fellow Republican congressmen, with the goal of hearing a deposition going on in the Pentagon related to the impeachment inquiry.<ref>[https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/10/23/20929080/house-republicans-sergeant-arms-scif-impeachment-intelligence-eoyang House Republicans’ national security-threatening impeachment stunt, explained by an expert] Vox</ref> Gaetz would go on to compare this actions to the Spartans from the movie ''300''.<ref>[https://www.towleroad.com/2019/10/matt-gaetz-300/ Matt Gaetz Compares Himself to Spartans in Movie ‘300’ After Storming Impeachment Inquiry: ‘I Love the President So Much’ — WATCH] Towel Road</ref>

Gaetz's never ending support for Trump has even caused him to occasionally clash with members of his own party, such as when he was one of the main voices calling for the removal of [[Liz Cheney]] from her high profile role within the House Republican Party because she supported the second Trump impeachment, with Gaetz even going to her home state of [[Wyoming]] for no other reason than to rally against her.<ref name=SMN/>

==Scandal at Venmo==
===The main story===
Matt Gaetz was investigated by both the US Department of Justice for suspected "sex trafficking", and by the House Ethics Committee for "a range of allegations … including sexual misconduct, illicit drug use, and bribery."<ref name="CBSreport"/>

The story originated through Gaetz having connections with Joel Greenberg, a tax collector who was later indicted for sex trafficking.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/30/us/politics/matt-gaetz-sex-trafficking-investigation.html Matt Gaetz Is Said to Face Justice Dept. Inquiry Over Sex With an Underage Girl] ''The New York Times''</ref> Greenberg later pleaded guilty to sex trafficking,<ref>[https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/01/politics/joel-greenberg-sentencing/index.html Joel Greenberg sentenced to 11 years after cooperating with federal probe into Matt Gaetz] CNN</ref> as did an associate to both Greenberg and Gaetz named Joseph Ellicott.<ref>[https://www.huffpost.com/entry/matt-gaetz-associate-pleads-guilty-on-2-charges-agrees-to-cooperation-deal_n_61f1689fe4b094ce54a4b88b Matt Gaetz Associate Pleads Guilty On 2 Charges, Agrees To Cooperation Deal] The Huffington Post</ref> Greenberg would later claim in a letter to then-President Donald Trump that both he and Gaetz had sex with a 17-year-old girl they both believed was 19 at the time.<ref>[https://www.thedailybeast.com/joel-greenberg-letter-written-for-roger-stone-says-matt-gaetz-paid-for-sex-with-minor Bombshell Letter: Gaetz Paid for Sex With Minor, Wingman Says] The Daily Beast</ref>

===Aftermath===
When accused of his actions, Gaetz [[Persecution complex|cried]] about how [[cancel culture]] was trying to go after him.<ref>[https://www.businessinsider.com/matt-gaetz-canceled-marked-man-america-first-tour-sex-trafficking2021-5 Embattled Matt Gaetz boasts about being 'canceled man' at first high-profile public appearance since sex-trafficking probe] by Joshua Ztiser, May 9, 2021, ''Business Insider''</ref> Perhaps disturbingly enough, he attended a debut screening of the fantasy satire film ''[[Barbie]]'' with his wife Ginger, who later lambasted the film for what they perceive as a "[[Bullshit|lack]] of [[family values]]", never mind the fact that Gaetz himself lacked the same values they claim to promote and that the theatre he and his wife attended were jam-packed with the ''very same age group'' he lusts upon.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1oLrUd7NfI Congressman Matt Gaetz’s Wife Calls for 'Barbie' Movie Boycott]</ref>

He also tried to tie this into some weird campaign against earmarks he was doing at the time, saying it was hypocritical for people to investigate him when those exist. This is in spite of the fact that he was one of the biggest earmarkers in Congress at the time. He specifically was attempting to get a one-hundred-forty million dollar Hanger for his district in hopes of making it easier to land helicopters, this in a place with a massive homelessness problem.<ref name=SMN/>

==His terrible friends==
One notable thing about Gaetz is how he has a bad habit of buddying around with the absolute worst of society. In 2018, Gaetz invited {{wpl|Charles C. Johnson||,}} a notorious [[alt-right]] [[troll]] and far-right [[Holocaust denier]],<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/feb/01/state-of-the-union-matt-gaetz-charles-johnson GOP lawmaker condemned for inviting Holocaust denier to State of the Union] The Guardian</ref> to President Trump's State of the Union Address. Johnson previously ran a crowdfunding site that raised money for the neo-Nazi website [[Daily Stormer]], <ref>[https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/371644-gop-rep-invited-alt-right-troll-to-the-state-of-the-union/ GOP rep invited alt-right activist to the State of the Union] The Hill</ref> and was banned for life on [[Twitter]] in 2015 after asking for donations to help "take out" civil rights activist {{wpl|DeRay McKesson||.}}<ref>[https://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2015/05/troll-charles-johnson-banned-from-twitter-207688 "Troll Charles Johnson banned from Twitter"] by Dylan Byers, Politico ,2015 May 26</ref>

One year later, Gaetz would yet again see controversy through hiring Darren Beattie as a speechwriter, despite him previously being fired from his job in the Trump Administration for attending a white nationalist political conference.<ref>[https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/19/politics/darren-beattie-matt-gaetz/index.html Rep. Matt Gaetz hires former White House speechwriter who attended 2016 conference with white nationalists] CNN</ref>

In 2020, Right Wing Watch wrote an article discussing how Gaetz would commonly use social media to amplify the voices of those on the far-right, saying:

{{quotebox|Like the other individuals profiled above, Gaetz relies on social media to solicit support from online extremists. He frequently “likes,” retweets, and follows the accounts of such far-right organizations as the xenophobic Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), and hard-right media outlets like PragerU, The Next Revolution, and Blaze TV, as well as the far-right Jack Posobiec. While Gaetz’s comments are not often overtly racist, many of his far-right followers online view him to be sympathetic to their causes.

Among Gaetz’s supporters is white supremacist leader Christopher Cantwell, who devoted an hours-long podcast episode to praising him. The white nationalist blog VDARE wrote an article commending Gaetz for his defense of white nationalists under criticism for their dangerous, racist rhetoric.<ref>[https://www.rightwingwatch.org/report/running-on-racism-far-right-congressional-candidates-in-the-2020-elections-and-those-who-lean-that-way/ Running on Racism: Far-Right Congressional Candidates in the 2020 Elections, and Those Who Lean That Way] Right Wing Watch</ref>}}

==The end of his Congressional career==
{{cquote|"The Committee determined there is substantial evidence that Representative Gaetz violated House Rules and other standards of conduct prohibiting [[prostitution]], statutory [[rape]], illicit [[drug]] use, impermissible gifts] special favors or privileges, and obstruction of Congress|||The conclusion of the House Committee of Ethics report<ref>[https://ethics.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Committee-Report.pdf "IN THE MATTER OF ALLEGATIONS RELATING TO REPRESENTATIVE MATT GAETZ"], Report of the Committee on Ethics, 118th Congress 2nd Session, US Government Publishing Office, December 23 2024</ref>}}
Following [[Donald Trump]] winning reelection in November 2024, Gaetz resigned from Congress because Trump said that he would nominate him for Attorney General. His resignation from Congress was despite himself having won reelection to Congress that month. The resignation was seen as a way to prevent the Congressional Ethics Committee from releasing its report on him.<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj0jgle8qnyo Trump's withdrawn attorney general pick will not return to Congress] by Mike Wendling (22 November 2024) ''BBC''.</ref> That gambit failed in December when the Congressional committee released its report anyway.<ref name=ethics/> Gaetz was no longer under consideration for Attorney General or able to go back to his job in Congress. By January 2025, he found a punditry job at the second-rate GOP propaganda channel [[OANN]].<ref>[https://archive.is/wip/0uSD1 By the @OANN Live App to see my first show tonight! @laurenboebert @RepThomasMassie @RepSpartz and much more! 9pm est] by Matt Gaetz (8:54 AM · Jan 2, 2025) ''Twitter'' (archived from 2 Jan 2025 21:39:25 UTC).</ref>

==Stopped clock==
{{main|Stopped clock}}
Gaetz has proven himself to be surprisingly reasonable on the issue of cannabis,{{efn|Probably because he's purchased it himself.<ref name=ethics/>{{rp|13}}}} supporting its reclassification from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule III,<ref>[https://www.pnj.com/story/news/2017/04/07/matt-gaetz-proposes-rescheduling-marijuana-research-medical-opioid-crisis/100182968/ Matt Gaetz proposes to reschedule marijuana] Pensacola News Journal</ref> introducing legislation to loosen federal restrictions on the ability of non-government actors to research it,<ref>[https://norml.org/blog/2018/04/27/legislation-introduced-to-end-the-federal-governments-marijuana-production-monopoly/ Legislation Introduced To End The Federal Government’s Marijuana Production Monopoly] NORML</ref> and directly calling out the government for lying to people about the medical benefits of the plant.<ref>[https://www.tampabay.com/florida-politics/buzz/2018/05/21/trump-ally-matt-gaetz-makes-a-push-for-medical-marijuana/ Trump ally Matt Gaetz makes a push for medical marijuana] Tampa Bay Times</ref>

==See also==
*[[Marjorie Taylor Greene]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaetz, Matt}}

[[Category:Anti-LGBT bigots]]
[[Category:Conspiracy theorists]]
[[Category:Fascists]]
[[Category:Florida]]
[[Category:Former United States Representatives]]
[[Category:Homophobes]]
[[Category:Machismo]]
[[Category:Paedophilia]]
[[Category:Racists]]
[[Category:Sexists]]
[[Category:Transphobes]]
[[Category:Trumpism]]
[[Category:Vatniks]]

Categories: Anti-LGBT bigots, Conspiracy theorists, Fascists, Florida, Former United States Representatives, Homophobes, Machismo, Paedophilia, Racists, Sexists, Transphobes, Trumpism, Vatniks