Fans of embattled ex-Rep. Matt Gaetz immediately began plotting his comeback after the Florida Republican withdrew from consideration to serve as President-elect Donald Trump’s attorney general.
Gaetz resigned from Congress when the pick was announced—but he withdrew just over a week later—after an unknown hacker gained access to sworn testimony by a woman who said she and Gaetz had sex when she was 17.
Before he withdrew, ABC News reported that Gaetz paid more than $10,000 to two women who later testified in the sexual misconduct probes conducted by both the House Ethics Committee and the Justice Department.
CNN reported that the then-17-year-old told the Ethics Committee of a second sexual encounter between the minor and former congressman.
Gaetz withdrew from consideration less than one hour after the outlet called, CNN reporter Paula Reid said.
But the bombshells have done little to sway Gaetz’s most fervent fans, who have taken to Truth Social to plot a comeback.
“Anyone else think Governor Ron DeSantis should install Matt Gaetz as Senator Rubio’s replacement?” one user asked, referencing the Senate seat left vacant by Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-Fla.) Secretary of State nomination.
“If for no other reason than just to watch democrat heads explode,” he added in the post, which has racked up more than 7,000 likes.
“I WOULD LOVE TO SEE MATT GAETZ TAKE RUBIOS PLACE!!! WHAT A KICK IN THE ASS THAT WOULD BE TO THE RINOS WHO WOULDN’T EXCEPT HIM AS AG!!!!!!!!!!!” agreed another user.
Wrote another account: “YES, MATT GAETZ SHOULD BE INSTALLED TO FILL RUBIO’S SEAT. MATT GAETZ SHOULD BE THE AG…WHY ISN’T THERE ANYONE FIGHTING FOR HIM? THIS IS NOT A BEAUTY PAGEANT! WE NEED MATT GAETZ!”
“Senator Gaetz and Congresswoman [Lara Trump] sounds good to me,” wrote someone else. Trump’s daughter-in-law has been floated as a possible replacement for Rubio as well.
In addition to the possibility of a Senator Gaetz, some Truth Social users proposed alternatives for the firebrand Republican to stay in the limelight.
“Alternatively Pam Bondi [the new Attorney General pick] could appoint Matt Gaetz as a Special Counsel to investigate all of the corruption carried out by the DOJ, FBI and the Democrats,” one person mused.
“Swap Matt for Kash [Patel] at the FBI and watch the talking heads explode,” another person proposed.
Others hoped he still kept his seat in the house.
“Matt resigned from the 118th Congress, but was re-elected to the 119th Congress starting next year and can still hold that seat,” offered someone else.
Gaetz for his part said in his resignation from the current Congress that he does “not intend to take the oath of office for the same office in the 119th Congress.”
It’s unclear exactly what would happen if Gaetz changes his mind. Politico reports that Congress appears poised to punt the question back to DeSantis and Florida’s secretary of state.
While that theoretically could be the easiest way back into politics for Gaetz, it’s not his Truth Social fans’ top choice.
“I would prefer he be in the senate,” wrote one person. “Way more useful there … what a perfect fresh mind that the senate needs.”
And Gaetz himself has hinted that his congressional resignation and subsequent nomination withdrawal is not the end of his political career.
Hours after announcing the withdrawal, Gaetz wrote: “I look forward to continuing the fight to save our country. Just maybe from a different post.”
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