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Former Rep. Matt Gaetz’s reputation and political prospects may take a nosedive in the wake of the release of the House Ethics Committee’s report, but several MAGA figures are standing by the Florida Republican.
On his “War Room” podcast hours after the report’s release Monday, Steve Bannon, a former Trump White House aide, dismissed the report as a “nothing burger” and urged Gaetz to return to Congress.
“Take the ethics report and shove it up your a--. That’s what I think,” Bannon said. “Gaetz must return like Trump returned. Don’t back down, double down.”
The committee said in its report that it found “substantial evidence” that Gaetz had violated House rules, as well as state and federal laws, while serving in Congress, including that he “regularly” paid women for sex and bought or possessed illegal drugs including cocaine and ecstasy. Gaetz has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and noted that a separate Justice Department investigation into allegations of sex trafficking ended with no charges.
Gaetz has said he will not join the next Congress in January despite winning re-election in November, and he is due to begin hosting a political talk show on One America News Network. At a Turning Point USA convention over the weekend, he floated running for Florida governor or for Sen. Marco Rubio’s seat in the U.S. Senate.
Although much of MAGA world raged against the committee’s findings and its decision to release a report on a former member, others have downplayed the committee’s findings and its potential impact on Gaetz’s political future.
Florida state Rep. Juan Porras praised Gaetz on X as “one of the most prominent fighters” in the GOP and derided the ethics committee’s findings as “opposition research disguised as an ethics report.”
“I stand with him and hope to see him continue his public service in the future,” he wrote.
Florida state Sen. Joe Gruters, whom President-elect Donald Trump has backed for treasurer of the Republican National Committee, told Politico that the report’s release was an “attempt to damage [Gaetz’s] reputation by those with personal or political grievances against him.” Gaetz, he said, “continues to have a bright future in elected office, or any other path he chooses to pursue.”