We think it’s safe to say Rep. Matt Gaetz didn’t have a great week. In fact, it was pretty terrible for the Florida anti-gay lawmaker.
On Tuesday, The New York Times reported that the Justice Department is investigating whether he “had sex with a 17-year-old girl and paid for her to travel with him.”
Gaetz, of course, denies everything and says he’s the victim of a $ 25 million extortion scheme possibly directed by someone inside Biden’s White House. Or something.
Over the past few weeks, my family and I have been the victims of an organized criminal extortion involving a former DOJ official seeking $ 25 million while threatening to smear my name.
We are cooperating with the federal authorities on this …
– Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) March 30, 2021
… And my father even carried a wire to the FBI leadership to catch these criminals. The leak planted at the FBI this evening was intended to thwart this investigation.
None of the allegations against me are true, and the people who push these lies are targets …
– Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) March 30, 2021
… Of the ongoing extortion investigation.
I demand that the DOJ immediately release the recordings, made under their direction, that implicate their former colleague in crimes against me based on false allegations.
– Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) March 30, 2021
Hours before the scandal broke, Axios reported that Gaetz privately told confidants that he was considering retiring before his tenure ended in 2023 to take a job with right-wing propaganda network Newsmax.
The Daily Beast followed up with a second report indicating that Gaetz was in talks not only with Newsmax, but also with Fox News and One America News Network.
Related: Sure Matt Gaetz Is Considering Leaving Congress For A TV Career
However, since Gaetz was accused of sleeping with a teenager, Fox has issued a rushed statement saying he was not interested in touching him with a ten-foot pole.
“No one at any level of authority has had conversations with Matt Gaetz for any of our platforms, and we have no interest in hiring him,” the network said in a statement.
RELATED: Madison Cawthorn Is Dragged Into Matt Gaetz Teen Sex Scandal
Meanwhile, neither OAN nor Newsmax comment on the rumors, except for a spokesperson for the latter telling The Hill that the network is not disclosing “talks about talent or future programming plans.”
But sources now say Gaetz is unlikely to land a gig on Newsmax. And OAN founder and CEO Robert Herring doesn’t seem interested in working with him either.
“At the moment, I’m not really hiring anyone for talk shows,” he said. “I think he’s a great congressman, and I said [that ‘somebody’] to tell him to stay there. This is what I want Congressman Gaetz to do.
Now here’s what folx on Twitter said about Gaetz’s teenage sex scandal …
Who thinks Matt Gaetz is rotten and fishy?
-? 4fuxake !? (@blueheartedly) April 1, 2021
You would have thought that QAnon would have caught Matt Gaetz for trafficking underage women. After all, isn’t that what they claim to be ?!
– (((DeanObeidallah))) (@DeanObeidallah) April 1, 2021
Republicans criticized Joe Biden for tripping up the stairs Matt Gaetz for trafficking underage girls for sex.
– Grande Capo (@VoLinxx) April 1, 2021
Yes, Matt Gaetz may be the target of an extortion plot and guilty of sex trafficking.
In fact, there would be nothing to extort from him if there weren’t any there.
So do not pay attention to its obscuring the problem.
He is under investigation for a sex crime involving a minor.
– Michelangelo Signorile (@MSignorile) April 1, 2021
Matt Gaetz is an April Fool … and a May Fool, a June Fool, etc.
– Annie C? (@ anet2111) April 1, 2021
I do not understand. If @mattgaetz is NOT guilty of child sex trafficking, why would his family pay blackmail to keep it silent? If anything, Gaetz’s so-called “defense” makes him look even more guilty!
– Jon Cooper ?? (@joncoopertweets) April 1, 2021
#MattGaetz is probably genuinely sorry right now for disproving all those stories that he got a lot drunk.
– Buddy Winston (@BuddyWinston) April 1, 2021
If no sexual crime had taken place, there would not be:
– FBI probe
– Gaetz’s concern about the capture of the alleged * blackmailer *
– the will of the allies to engage in the capture of the suspected suspect.
Moreover, Gaetz does not understand the difference between bribery, extortion and blackmail. pic.twitter.com/DaiurQPx4p
– Monty ??Lincoln’s Speeches?? Boa (@ MontyBoa99) April 1, 2021
Graham Gremore is editor and editor at Queerty. Follow him on Twitter @grahamgremore.
