May 8, 2021

Watch: Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene Combine Forces at a Rally in Florida

The controversial Republican members of Congress hit the stump, despite their baggage.

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., left, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., raise their arms after addressing attendees of a rally in The Villages, Fla. Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP Photo

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Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) has proven once again that Republicans who’ve backed the QAnon conspiracy theory, which suggests a deep-state group of Satan-worshiping elites run a child sex ring, seem to have no problem whatsoever supporting a Republican politician in the midst of an actual sex trafficking scandal.

Gaetz is currently under investigation in Florida for allegations that he had sex with a 17-year-old girl and paid prostitutes. But he was given a hero’s welcome last night at The Villages, the mammoth retirement community north of Orlando, where he appeared with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), a former QAnon enthusiast.

The rally was the first stop on the duo’s new “America First” tour, where they plan to target the “radical left” and focus on “ending America’s forever-wars, fixing the border Joe Biden broke on day one, prioritizing Americans, not illegal migrants, reshoring industries sold to foreign adversaries, ensuring real election integrity, and taking on the threat of the Chinese Communist Party,” Gaetz told Politico last month. 

But judging from footage of last nights event, the “America First” tour is, of course, all about Donald Trump, and continuing the lie that the election was stolen from him. “I’ve just got to check something, I just want to make sure I’m in the right place,” Greene asked the crowd. “Tell me, who is your president?”

“Trump!” came the reply.

“That’s my president, too,” Greene said. “I just want to be sure I’m with friends and family, not with antifa or BLM or democratic socialists.”

Watch the video here:

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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