According to a report from Reuters, Florida Congressman and alleged sex trafficker Matt Gaetz was turned down from a job at the ultra-conservative news outlet Newsmax.
Gaetz apparently contacted Newsmax earlier this year, right around the time the story broke that he was being investigated by the Justice Department for possibly having sex with and trafficking a minor. (Although since then, the investigation has reportedly expanded in its scope.)
A source told Reuters that Gaetz “reached out and said he might leave Congress early and was interested in TV work.” That source makes it very clear that Gaetz was never offered a job and a spokesperson from the network says they have “no plans” to hire Gaetz.
Newsmax is known for exactly one thing: loving Trump. They’re even more conservative and pro-Trump than Fox News, as evidenced by the few times Fox News criticized Trump and Trump then took to Twitter (back when he was able) to tell everyone to watch Newsmax or OAN instead.
Meanwhile, Matt Gaetz is known for a few things—being awful at his job, secretly and unofficially adopting his ex-girlfriend’s Cuban brother, getting COVID-19 after mocking the pandemic by wearing a gas mask on the House floor, and now his current scandal–but over the last few years, he has built nearly his entire career and his public persona around Trump adulation.
So it seems like a match made in sycophancy. Matt Gaetz made the choice to fully board the Trump train, presumably with the hope that it would land him at a cushy cable news job like so many other MAGA diehards.
But it looks like that dream isn’t going to be a reality for Gaetz—at least not any time soon. The charges against him have continued to pile up–now including possible obstruction of justice charges on top of everything else. His attempts to defend himself have not gone well and his one-time allies and alleged partners in crime look to be ready to turn on him.
Still, even if the “TV work” part of Gaetz’s plan doesn’t work out, I fully encourage him to explore the part about “leaving Congress.” That sounds like a win for everybody.
(via Reuters, image: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
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