After 10 days of relentless developments in Rep. Matt Gaetz’s (R-FL) scandal saga, the Florida Republican re-emerged on Friday evening to ignore most of the most recent and damning reports and offer MAGA defenses and lines of applause.
“I’m built for battle and I’m not going anywhere,” Gaetz told attendees at the Save America Summit at Trump Doral in Miami, Florida.
While Gaetz tries to set aside reports he is investigating for paying women for sex (including, potentially, a minor), Gaetz did not seem ironic in addressing an event hosted by “Women for America First.” Instead, he claimed the reports were “blemishes” and “wild conspiracy theories” promoted by a “lying media outlet.”
When the sun set on one of Trump’s golf clubs, Gaetz was celebrated as a hero and a “fearless leader“.
The congressman began things by regurgitating the lie that “elections were stolen” from former President Donald Trump because of “rule changes.” He then delved into the familiar “America First” booster before saying last week had been “full of spirits”.
But outside the warm confines of another Trump property, Gaetz’s list of scandals grows and intensifies. A few hours before Gaetz spoke on Friday, the House Ethics Committee announced it was also opening an investigation into “public complaints” against him, and the normally laconic press release offered a list of complaints.
“The Committee is aware of public allegations that Rep. Matt Gaetz may have committed sexual misconduct and / or illicit drug use, shared inappropriate images or videos on the floor of the House, made use of undue from state records, converted campaign funds for personal use and / or accepted an inappropriate bribe / gratuity or a prohibited gift in violation of House rules, ”the Committee wrote in a letter.
Still, no one attending the “Dinner and Drinks with Rep. Matt Gaetz” event would have known he was potentially fighting for his political future and, most importantly, for his freedom. He delivered a speech that could largely have been recited at any Trump rally over the past four years.
Still, as much as Gaetz continues to associate with the Trump brand, it seems that Trump himself keeps his distance.
As reported by The Daily Beast late last week, the former president’s advisers implored Trump not to publicly defend Gaetz, at least until more was known about the veracity of the allegations about a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl. years and the federal government probe. For the most part, Trump has been in private agreement with this council, and several Trumpworld luminaries, members of the Trump family and top Republicans and conservative media stars have shut the hell out of the Gaetz scandal.
Some are already preparing to wash the hands of the faithful MAGA soldier, even though Gaetz went on to fight vigorously for Trump in almost every major scandal or controversy.
None of the 16 former senior Trump administration officials, ex-campaign professionals, longtime GOP operatives and sources close to the former president contacted by The Daily Beast were unwilling to defend Gaetz on the record. Not a single one would even do it anonymously.
When former President Trump finally did issuing a statement to Gaetz on Wednesday, was a brief statement, mostly self-serving, offering a half-hearted defense.
“Congressman Matt Gaetz has never apologized to me,” Trump said in a statement, after reporting that Gaetz sought a general pardon for him and other Trump cheerleaders. “It must also be remembered that he has completely denied the allegations against him.”
But for Gaetz, it’s all the vindication he needs.
“The best is yet to come,” Gaetz said at the Friday night ceremony.
It’s a sentiment that came out of the speech at the 2020 Republican National Convention by Kimberly Guilfoyle, a prominent ally of Trump and the girlfriend of Donald Trump Jr.
In the time between the time Guilfoyle roared those words and when Gaetz said them on Friday, Joe Biden defeated Trump in the presidential election, the insurgents overcame the U.S. Capitol, Trump became the first president of the United States to be charged twice and was exposed. that Gaetz is the subject of an investigation by the Justice Department into alleged sex trafficking and prostitution.