Losing out on a dream job is always hard. All the more so when you come this close, only to have it snatched away because of, oh, some minor dust-up — for instance, a House ethics report concluding that you indulged in illegal drugs, violated state prostitution laws and, on at least one occasion, may have failed to ascertain whether a sex partner was, strictly speaking, of legal age.
Such is the disappointment of Matt Gaetz, the former congressman from Florida and President Trump’s original, now defunct pick for attorney general in his new administration.
Having been deemed so morally suspect that even President “Access Hollywood” opted to abandon the fight for him, Mr. Gaetz might have reasonably hidden away for some soul-searching after withdrawing his nomination. But since a core tenet of Trumpism is that shame and self-reflection are for losers, he instead has spent the past several months working to stay politically relevant.
Mr. Gaetz, who has denied any wrongdoing, has been hosting a political talk show on One America News Network. He has also been nurturing his relationship with the Republican faithful as the head of a fledgling PAC. He is sparking occasional buzz around possibly running for state office in Florida. And last month, he made common cause with some Trump fanboys of even sketchier moral fiber.
In short, Mr. Gaetz is testing another central tenet of the MAGA-verse: So long as one obeys the first commandment of Trumpism — Thou shalt not betray the movement’s leader — political resurrection remains a possibility, no matter how low you go.
“The Matt Gaetz Show,” up and running since January, features segments designed to thrill the hearts of OAN’s conservative audience, including “Giving Democrats a Harsh Reality Check” and multiple swipes at deep-blue California. Its saucy spirit seems in keeping with the Florida Firebrand PAC, which touts Mr. Gaetz as its chairman.
Established in December, the group has been blasting out fund-raising emails in his name, ranging from garden-variety electioneering to personal whining. Many employ Mr. Trump’s muscular use of capitalization. “TODAY, we are LOSING the House Majority,” Mr. Gaetz warned in a note, sent the day of Florida’s special elections this month, that featured the incomparable line: “BUT the polls haven’t closed yet. There’s still a slither of hope.”
In another missive, declaring “My life is under attack,” Mr. Gaetz proclaimed himself the victim of a “BOGUS Witch hunt” by not only “the Liberal mob” and the “Corrupt Media” but also his bête noire, the former Republican House speaker Kevin McCarthy. Mr. McCarthy is a recurring villain in Mr. Gaetz’s fund-raising dispatches. My favorite so far was the Feb. 26 note, “K-Street Kevin BENDS THE KNEE!” that was wholly devoted to trashing the erstwhile speaker.
Despite his fall from grace, the political climate in Florida is friendly enough that Mr. Gaetz is being talked about for state office. Initially, there were rumblings that he might run for governor next year, though that now seems unlikely with Mr. Trump having endorsed Representative Byron Donalds. The more recent speculation is that Mr. Gaetz could be a contender for state attorney general.
Don’t laugh. Recent polling suggests plenty of people take him seriously. To claim the party’s nomination, Mr. Gaetz would presumably need to best the Republican incumbent, James Uthmeier, a former chief of staff to Gov. Ron DeSantis. The governor appointed Mr. Uthmeier to the post after Ashley Moody decamped to replace Marco Rubio in the Senate. In a survey of likely Republican voters conducted by Tony Fabrizio, who was Mr. Trump’s campaign pollster, 39 percent favored Mr. Gaetz versus only 21 percent for Mr. Uthmeier. “I’m humbled that so many Florida Republicans support me,” Mr. Gaetz told Axios, which first reported the poll. He teased, “Sometimes the A.G. itch doesn’t go away with one scratch.”
Such early numbers don’t mean much. But they are enough to get Mr. Gaetz and his supporters thinking. The former congressman is already showing signs that he views Mr. Uthmeier as a political rival. Last month he took an online swing at the attorney general in defense of none other than the hard-right, pro-Trump influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate.
For those not up on the British American Tate brothers, they are poster boys for misogyny and sexual predation who showed up in Florida earlier this year after a travel ban was lifted by Romania, where they have been under investigation for alleged sex crimes. (Those with a strong stomach should Google the details.) The Tates maintain their innocence.
When the brothers arrived in the state in late February, Mr. DeSantis declared them not welcome. In early March, Mr. Uthmeier announced that his office was investigating them. Mr. Gaetz soon jumped into the fray, posting a chummy message of support to Andrew Tate. “Dude,” he wrote, the governor and his A.G. are “trying to divide the world between ‘wholesome’ and ‘evil’ with themselves as the vanguards of kindness, and you as a symbol of cruelty. It’s all just posturing.”
Linking arms with one of the globe’s most noxious brocasters might seem an odd way to burnish one’s political brand. But this is Mr. Trump’s America. And Mr. Gaetz long ago embraced the president’s strategy of spinning his ethical or legal troubles as a badge of honor — proof of his patriotism and MAGA loyalty — and attempting to ride that victimhood to political advancement.
All this might seem like cheesy theatrics, but it captures a core toxicity of the Trump era: spreading the incompetence and venality of the president’s own leadership to far-flung corners of the Republican Party — places where the national spotlight does not shine as brightly, but the damage wrought can nonetheless be devastating. Not infrequently, this occurs by recycling and shoring up the political losers and scoundrels among the MAGA faithful. Win or lose, they remain beholden to Mr. Trump.
Take the chronic election denier Kari Lake, twice defeated in Arizona in recent years, now reportedly set to be detailed to the State Department. Or Ryan Zinke, who was secretary of the interior during Trump 1, resigned amid a swirl of ethics investigations — which he dismissed as “meritless and false” and, of course, “politically motivated” — then went on to win a House seat representing Montana.
And let us not forget Ken Paxton, Texas’ scandal-ridden attorney general, who has weathered an impressive range of legal drama, including charges of securities fraud and whistle-blower claims of bribery and abuse of office. He was impeached by the Republican-led State House, then acquitted by the Republican-led State Senate. This month, a district court judge ruled that Mr. Paxton had wrongly fired the whistle-blowers, who were awarded $6.6 million.
But Mr. Paxton, a pro-Trump firebrand, just wraps himself ever tighter in his cloak of political persecution and keeps on swinging, to the delight of Republican voters. In 2022, he beat back a primary challenge from George P. Bush and went on to win a third term. Last week, he upped the ante, announcing that he would challenge Senator John Cornyn in next year’s Republican primary.
None of which is to say that Mr. Gaetz is certain to run for office again — or is guaranteed political redemption. But in an era of Trumpist rot and relativism, there is ample reason for him to harbor more than just a slither of hope.
Michelle Cottle writes about national politics for Opinion. She has covered Washington and politics since the Clinton administration. @mcottle
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Michelle Cottle writes about national politics for Opinion. She has covered Washington and politics since the Clinton administration. @mcottle
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