Matt as Hell: A Roundup of Matt Gaetz’s Most Outrageous Remarks

Some of them have landed him in trouble.

Mother Jones illustration; Jeff Malet/Newscom/ZUMA

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

Some members of Congress make a name for themselves with signature legislation or federal funds for their districts. Matt Gaetz has chosen a more Trump-like route, defending the president at all costs and hurling insults at anyone who dares to cross either of them. Here are some of his most outrageous comments:

In 2013, taking to Twitter to mock a participant in Florida’s public assistance program

 

Responding to a 2015 bill he didn’t like by appearing to question the literacy of two black Florida state senators

 
Defending Trump’s description of Haiti as a “shithole” country in January 2018

“The conditions in Haiti are deplorable, they are disgusting. I mean, everywhere you look in Haiti, it’s sheet metal and garbage.”

 

Joining 17 Republican colleagues to nominate Trump for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize

“Since taking office, President Trump has worked tirelessly to apply maximum pressure on North Korea to end its illicit weapons programs and bring peace to the region.”

 

Hasan Jamali / AP

 

Tweeting after Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi was assassinated by Saudi agents in Turkey in October 2018

“The media is painting Khashoggi as a ‘journalist’ rather than a political participant. Don’t get me wrong, I’m 100% opposed to killing people for their politics, but IDK that this is journalism.”

Imagining what might happen if a federal transgender rights bill were passed

“Consider this possibility: If President Trump were to say, ‘I am now the first female president,’ who would celebrate that?”

 
Menacing tweet directed at Trump’s former lawyer before he testified before Congress

“Hey @MichaelCohen212 – Do your wife & father-in-law know about your girlfriends? Maybe tonight would be a good time for that chat. I wonder if she’ll remain faithful when you’re in prison. She’s about to learn a lot…”

 

J. Scott Applewhite/AP

 

Responding to the House Ethics Committee’s announcement in June that it was investigating Gaetz’s alleged threat against Cohen

“If members of Congress want to spend their time psychoanalyzing my tweets, it’s certainly their prerogative.”

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate