2021-03-31 at 3:15 PM UTC
TheWrap
'GaetzGate'?! Some Recent Matt Gaetz's Tweets Really Have Not Aged Well
Andi Ortiz
After Rep. Matt Gaetz revealed on Tuesday he is being investigated by the Department of Justice for possible sexual misconduct, some of his tweets are not helping his case — one from as recently as last week.
The New York Times reported that the Justice Department is investigating whether Gaetz, 38, had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old and paid for her to travel over state lines, possibly violating federal sex trafficking laws. Gaetz has vehemently denied the claims, maintaining that they are "verifiably false" and claiming that he and his family have become the targets for an extortion attempt.
"Over the past several weeks my family and I have been victims of an organized criminal extortion involving a former DOJ official seeking $25 million while threatening to smear my name. We have been cooperating with federal authorities in this matter and my father has even been wearing a wire at the FBI's direction to catch these criminals," Gaetz said in a statement. "No part of the allegations against me are true, and the people pushing these lies are targets of the ongoing extortion investigation."
Also read: Matt Gaetz, Now Under DOJ Investigation, Was Lone Vote Against Human Trafficking Bill in 2017
As the story has unfolded though, the people of Twitter have done what they do best and resurfaced tweets from Gaetz that are, simply put, not a great look for the Florida Republican. As recently as last Thursday, Gaetz even tweeted that if there were ever to be a scandal surrounding him, he'd want it to be called "Gaetzgate."
Shortly thereafter, Twitter sleuths found another tweet from Gaetz, this one from August 2019. In it, the congressman quote tweets singer Bebe Rexha, who posted "There's no age that you can't be sexy." In reposting it, Gaetz added "I say we change Florida's welcome signs to this."
The tweet — which people are surprised hasn't been deleted — is obviously not a great look for Gaetz in this investigation, as he's being accused of having relations with a minor.
On Tuesday night, Gaetz appeared on Tucker Carlson's show to double down on his denial of the allegations against him, using Carlson's own past as a talking point. Carlson seemed stunned when Gaetz said, "I'm not the only person on screen right now who's been falsely accused of a terrible sex act. You were accused of something you did not do so you know what this feels like."
Carlson waited for Gaetz to finish his point before he responded, "You just referred to a mentally ill viewer who accused me of a sex crime 20 years ago. And, of course, it was not true. I never met the person. But I do agree with you — being accused falsely is one of the worst things that can happen."
After the interview was over, Carlson said, "You just saw our Matt Gaetz interview. That was one of the weirdest interviews I've ever conducted.
