The mere possibility of a scandal used to be reason enough to end political careers with astonishing speed. This no longer happens.
Suddenly embroiled in a sex trafficking investigation, Rep. Matt Gaetz denies having committed any crime, rules out resigning and presents himself as the victim of a defamation campaign.
The legislature joins a growing list of politicians from both parties – almost exclusively men – who are reformulating the answer to a controversy. Instead of humbly apologizing, they handle themselves as if nothing had happened, insist they did not commit irregularities, and bet that everything will have been forgotten in the next election.
“Clearly, this is a new strategy that people are using to respond to a crisis,” said Brent Colburn, a Democratic strategist who worked for the Barack Obama administration. “It’s a new chapter in the manual.”
Gaetz’s political future remains in doubt and will depend on the direction the investigation takes. But after being one of Donald Trump’s main proponents for several years, he now follows to the letter the formula the former president so often used.
When a video circulated at the end of the 2016 presidential campaign in which he boasted of having touched several women’s private areas, Trump said he apologized “if anyone felt offended” and he downplayed the episode, saying it was “costume nonsense.” He ignored orders from his own party to withdraw his candidacy and a few weeks later won the election.
As president, Trump responded to one scandal after another by looking ahead, preventing people from focusing on a single topic for too long, even if that meant generating another controversy.
The pressure on Gaetz increases. At a hearing on Thursday it was revealed that one of his political allies, Joel Greenberg, is negotiating a deal with investigators, which could be nothing good for him.
For now, though, Gaetz repeats Trump’s libretto and seeks the support of his most ardent supporters. Friday was speaking at an event at a Trump golf club in Miami.
“Trump sees in Matt Gaetz what he would like to see around the world,” said Republican strategist Rick Wilson, adding that in many ways the legislator is “the son he never had.”
Gaetz is not the only one who refuses to give his arm a twist in the midst of a political storm.
New York Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo refuses to resign despite several allegations of sexual abuse that prompted some of his closest allies to demand his resignation.
Virginia Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam also remained in office in 2019, after circulating a school yearbook in which he appeared painted black, alongside someone in the Ku Klux Klan tunic. Northam admitted that the person painted black was him and apologized, although days later he denied it was him.
The storm abated, Northam remained in office and was praised for his management of the coronavirus crisis.
Men seem more inclined than women to use these tactics. Representative Katie Hill resigned in 2019 after admitting an inappropriate relationship with two members of her team.
“Men from both parties are doing these things. They are redoubling their bet, denying it and waiting for the storm to subside,” said Democratic strategist Nicole Brener-Schmitz. “Women are criticized if they appeal to these resources and also if they don’t.”
Meredith Conroy, a professor of political science at California State University in San Bernardino and author of several books, including “Masculinity, Media, and the American Presidency,” said that scandals harm women more than men.
“Women in general, and especially in politics, are considered more honest and trustworthy,” Conroy said. “When they don’t fit into that image, they’re the target of criticism.”
An exception is Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who defends her stances against wind and tide. She was stripped of her seat on the lower house assignment committee and forced to apologize for supporting QAnon and other conspiracy theories and for making racist comments.
But he refused to give up, raised more money than before and is increasingly popular in some conservative circles.
Gaetz is still popular in his Florida district as well, although there are some who are beginning to question him within the Republican Party itself.
Steve Jacobson, a member of the party, says Gaetz “likes to make waves, but he doesn’t really do much. He’s more interested in going out to the newspapers than helping people.”
“They say he showed sexually explicit photos on his phone to another lawmaker … If a guy does this at school, they kick him out. And the guy does it in Congress itself. Is that okay?” Jacobson asked.
Gaetz, on the other hand, asked the White House to issue him a pardon in the last days of Trump’s presidency, according to a person at the target of management.
The informant said it was a precautionary measure sought by him and other Republican lawmakers. Gaetz placed the order at a time when the Justice Department was investigating his conduct and trying to determine if he had violated sex trafficking laws. It is unclear whether Gaetz touched on this issue in making his request.
Trump claims Gaetz never apologized to him.
It is noteworthy that the top of the Republican party did not come out in defense of Gaetz and that there is already a Republican representative, Adam Kinzinger, who called for his resignation.