After leading the internal uprising against House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) earlier this month, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) does not enjoy much goodwill inside his own caucus.
In addition, Republican workers and operatives paint a negative picture of the Florida congressman in interviews with Business Insider, alleging that he is more interested in attracting attention to himself through antics than in carrying out even the slightest bit of useful work.
“He doesn’t know how to govern and is not interested in acting in good faith for his constituents or his conference,” said Maura Gillespie, a House Republican aide who most recently worked for since-retired Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL). “
Similar thoughts were expressed by a second former House GOP worker, who chose to remain nameless in order to talk freely.
“Maybe the guy just likes attention,” he speculated. “Because here’s the thing. If you say enough crazy stuff, and you wear gas masks on the House floor, you’re gonna get a lot of attention.”
The controversial Republican made headlines last week when he claimed sensitive documents discovered in President Joe Biden’s hands may have been planted there by his fellow Democrats in an effort to “take him down” before the 2024 election.
In November, it was learned that Biden still possessed a small number of top-secret documents from his time as vice president, which came to light amid a high-profile Justice Department inquiry into Donald Trump’s handling of such materials.
They were discovered in a closet at the Penn Biden Center think tank, where the current president had a private office before becoming president. Only this month was their presence made known.
Since then, additional of these papers have been discovered in Biden’s Wilmington, Delaware residence.
Firebrand conservative Gaetz reportedly told Fox News that it was the product of a plot to prevent the 79-year-old president from seeking reelection.
‘There’s an element to this that feels like the Democrats are taking out Joe Biden,’ Gaetz said.
He quickly added, ‘I don’t know that that’s the case, but I don’t know that it’s not.’
‘But just as Joe Biden is hardening the cement around his decision to run for president again, they start looking for what classified documents might have been tucked away eight years ago,’ Gaetz finished.
