New York Post Rep. Matt Gaetz(R-Fla.) took a defiant tone Friday when discussing the federal sex trafficking investigation against him, vowing at a raucous Florida rally that “they will not silence me, we will not back down, and the truth will prevail.”
“I might be a wanted man by the deep state, but I am a Florida man, and it is good to be home,” Gaetz said as he took the stage to loud cheers at The Villages retirement community.
Investigators are looking into whether Gaetz paid an underage woman for sex and enticed her to travel across state lines to meet him. The Associated Press reported last week that the probe has expanded into whether Gaetz attempted to secure government jobs for his paramours, as well as whether he enabled friends to improperly influence and profit off of marijuana legislation.
At one point in his remarks, Gaetz referenced videos released last month by Project Veritas in which a CNN technical director told an undercover reporter the network was “going to keep running” stories about the Gaetz investigation because “he’s a problem for the Democratic Party.”
“CNN is just the worst … Today is my birthday, and I already know how CNN’s going to report it,” the third-term congressman joked, “‘Matt Gaetz has wild parties surrounded by beautiful women in The Villages’. So just get ready for it.”
Later in his remarks, Gaetz ripped House GOP Conference Chair Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), as his Republican colleagues prepare to vote on removing her from leadership.
“Part of being populist is showing that you are popular,” he told the crowd. “Maybe our leadership should give that a try.
“If Liz Cheney could even find Wyoming on a map and went there, she would find a lot of very angry cowboys who are not happy with the fact that she’s for every war,” added Gaetz, who traveled to Wyoming in January to speak against Cheney after she voted to impeach former President Donald Trump in connection with the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
“War in Syria, for it. War against Trump and his supporters, for it. War against the Republican conference, war against her own voters. Well, it appears that enough of my colleagues on the Republican side have seen things our way … and it appears that Liz Cheney may no longer be the chair of the Republican conference,” Gaetz said to a roar from the crowd. “This might be the first war she’s ever sought to end!”
House Republicans have scheduled a Wednesday morning vote to remove Cheney from her position as the third-ranking member of their conference. If Cheney does not survive the vote, she is likely to be replaced as conference chair by Trump-endorsed Upstate Rep. Elise Stefanik.
Gaetz continued his criticism of Cheney during a discussion session with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) following his remarks.
“I didn’t go to the [House] Republican retreat [last week], because I feel like the Republicans have been in a constant state of retreat,” Gaetz said as the crowd laughed. “I’m ready for an advance, not a retreat.
“And they get to the retreat, and basically the whole retreat is Kevin McCarthy fighting with Liz Cheney,” Gaetz went on. “And I’m watching this thinking, ‘Why did they not listen to us, like, three-four months ago when we said this is not going to work?’
“When somebody’s fundamental view is that we don’t need to work on election integrity, we don’t need to worry about the crisis at the border, we could find four more countries to invade before lunchtime tomorrow, that person should not be the spokesperson of the Republican Party,” Gaetz said. “We knew that then. I’m glad our colleagues have caught up. Maybe we’re the leaders, Marjorie. They’ll follow us!”
The Villages was the first stop on the so-called “America First” rally tour, which features Gaetz and Greene, two of the most controversial GOP members of Congress.
