'It's oblivion': Writer says Gaetz facing a 'blunt reality' of his own 'irrelevance'
Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) is professionally circling the drain as a result of the House Ethics Committee report into his activities, which was finally made public Monday after weeks of Republicans wrangling over the matter, reported Elaine Godfrey for The Atlantic.
The ethics report detailed "substantial evidence" that Gaetz, a longtime ally of President-elect Donald Trump who was briefly nominated for attorney general before withdrawing, “violated House Rules, state and federal laws, and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, acceptance of impermissible gifts, the provision of special favors and privileges, and obstruction of Congress.”
Gaetz, who has consistently denied all allegations and filed a last-minute restraining order to try to block the release of the report — even as it was being leaked — resigned from Congress during the AG nomination, and now appears set to host a show on the far-right One America News Network — a spectacular downgrade of fortunes in just a month, Godfrey wrote.
"As one former Republican lawmaker from Florida who’d collaborated with Gaetz in the House (and who asked for anonymity to speak candidly) described his former colleague’s future: 'It’s oblivion,'" wrote Godfrey. "A man who reportedly dreams of being Florida governor is now facing the blunt reality of his own political irrelevance. 'He is farther from the governor’s mansion now than ever,' Peter Schorsch, a Florida publisher and former political consultant who previously worked with Gaetz, told me. 'GOP voters are not going to go with the P. Diddy of Florida politics.'"
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What makes this all the more remarkable, wrote Godfrey, is that until recently, Gaetz appeared to be an unstoppable rising star, despite alienating much of the GOP caucus against him with his rebellion that kicked Kevin McCarthy out of the House speakership.
"Until very recently, Gaetz was winning," she wrote. "He had, in the past few years, become a MAGA folk hero for his commitment to posture and provocation — as well as a trusted confidant of Trump. He was able to exact revenge over his arch-nemesis, former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy," ironically, some believe, because he had allowed the ethics probe to continue. The logical next step was a run for governor, which he would have had a very good shot at.
Even Gaetz's backup plan seems to have fallen by the wayside, she said; he was originally in talks for a gig at Newsmax, a relatively more prestigious right-wing outlet, but the taint of the ethics report forced him to settle for OANN, which has a much smaller audience.
In a final bit of irony, Godfrey noted, "Some observers I spoke with expect Gaetz to relocate to San Diego, where OANN is based, which is nearly 3,000 miles from the Trump White House — far enough that it might as well be Mars."