During a recent appearance on ex-Trump adviser Steve Bannon’s podcast — which doesn’t exactly seem like a great place to be at any time for any reason — Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) said that he would be willing to resign from his House seat in order to defend ex-President Donald Trump at his upcoming Senate impeachment trial. Gaetz was nearly immediately clowned upon online for his self-important insistence that he would resign from Congress to defend Trump.
In his initial remarks, amazingly, Gaetz said that he thinks of “this cancellation of the Trump presidency and the Trump movement as one of the major risks to my people.” Sure, there’s a global pandemic that has claimed hundreds of thousands of American lives, and sure, untold numbers of Americans are continuing to struggle to meet their basic needs as that pandemic continues to wreak havoc across the United States — but Matt Gaetz thinks that “one of the major risks” is that people were mean to Donald Trump, or something. If he’s so convinced of the truthfulness of his ways, then maybe he should go to a hospital full of COVID-19 victims and overworked health care personnel and tell those inside that they shouldn’t worry because at least they’re not getting criticized like Donald Trump!
Barbara Comstock, a former Republican Congresswoman from Virginia, joked that if Gaetz was a member of Trump’s defense team, then that “could mean more Republican votes for conviction.” Brendan Boyle, a current Democratic Congressman from Pennsylvania, quipped: “I strongly support my colleague Matt Gaetz doing this.”
Sounds like a good idea for Gaetz to resign and represent Trump. If @RepMattGaetz is his attorney it could mean more Republican votes for conviction. https://t.co/XwIHovquBo
— Barbara Comstock (@BarbaraComstock) February 3, 2021
I strongly support my colleague Matt Gaetz doing this. https://t.co/8VbpLc9NK2
— US Rep Brendan Boyle (@RepBrendanBoyle) February 3, 2021
Gaetz hasn’t exactly marked his time in the House with anything other than loony belligerence. During House proceedings in the aftermath of January 6 rioting by Trump supporters at the U.S. Capitol, Gaetz literally yelled that Democratic leaders lit “actual fires,” which is… not correct. In fact, Gaetz’s comments represent angry delusions that don’t reflect basic reality. He was trying to pin responsibility for recent isolated instances of rioting on top Democrats, although top Democrats condemned violence in all its forms over and over again. Gaetz also claimed that “cities burned” for “months,” which is a gross misrepresentation of reality, and belligerent yelling that grossly overstates the actual issues at hand isn’t exactly poised to meaningfully move any productive conversations along… to say the least.
Check out Twitter responses to Gaetz’s willingness to resign below:
