House Republicans are in no hurry to defend Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz.
The three-year lawmaker, who is facing a federal sex trafficking investigation, “will not last long,” a member of Congress from the Democratic Republic of Congo told The Hill, who claimed that Gaetz’s days at the Capitol Hills are numbered.
A GOP House member told The Post that the allegations against Gaetz are “despicable.”
“Right now it looks like he will, at best, end up leaving Congress dishonored and, at worst, end up in jail,” the informant said. “He’s trying to tweet through the whole situation, but he doesn’t seem to be doing very well. … We’d like this problem to go away.”
While none of Gaetz’s fellow Republicans have actively called on him to resign, evidence of discontent is growing.
House leader Kevin McCarthy told reporters this week that the charges against the congressman were “serious.” California Republican Party Representative David Valadao made donations from the Gaetz campaign to victims of domestic abuse, Axios reported.
Former representative of the women’s group Barbara Comstock has it he called for her to leave.
Gaetz, one of former President Trump’s closest allies in Congress, has long been a divisive figure in his party and has especially classified many of his colleagues for their attacks on other lawmakers.
In January, Gaetz staged a rally in Wyoming to defend himself against U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, one of ten Republicans who voted to accuse Trump of her role in the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol uprising. He played an active role in a failed domestic effort by the House to remove her from her leadership role as chairman of the GOP House conference.
Gaetz, who says he will not resign, has denied the allegations of having paid for sex with minors and says he is the victim of a baroque extortion plot.