(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
 . . . . . . . . . .



Matt Gaetz got a taste of power. Now he’s primed to terrorize the Republican conference with it [1]

['Daily Kos Staff']

Date: 2023-10-27  

The 24-hour show of comity among House Republicans following the election of Democratic dreamboat Speaker Mike Johnson is officially over. That's bad news for the country, but even worse news for House Republicans.

The declaration of war came from none other than Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, who bears a notable resemblance to Jack Nicholson's character in “The Shining.” Gaetz, high off his successful takedown of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, decided his first order of business was to apparently out a Republican colleague as potentially gay in retaliation for accusing Gaetz of being a "foolish liar" amid the GOP speaker debacle.

"There might not be another member of Congress who lives a lie every day more than [Rep.] Jason Smith," Gaetz said, returning fire Thursday evening on his "Firebrand" podcast. "And Jason Smith knows exactly what I'm talking about and, by the way, so does almost every member of the House Republican caucus."

x Matt Gaetz appears to be outing the Republican Chairman of the Ways and Means committee on his podcast.



Guess that was about 24 hours of unity for the House GOP https://t.co/DFDNJhG7ej — Tim Miller (@Timodc) October 26, 2023

Welp, that momentary kumbaya ceasefire among House Republicans sure was blissful.

Rep. Jason Smith of Missouri, who has a history of taking anti-LGBTQ+ stances and casting anti-gay votes, chairs the powerful Ways and Means Committee.

The predictability of Gaetz taking petty personal swipes at his colleagues shouldn't obscure the significance of what the House GOP's nihilist-in-chief just did: He fired a warning shot at every single one of his Republican colleagues. Gaetz’s message? Don't cross me, or I will come for you in whatever way maximizes your personal pain and jeopardizes your political future.

Power doesn't always corrupt, but it absolutely reveals. Matt Gaetz plans to terrorize his conference, and he's just getting started.

Speaker Johnson should make a note of it.

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/10/27/2202032/-Matt-Gaetz-got-a-taste-of-power-Now-he-s-primed-to-terrorize-the-Republican-conference-with-it?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=top_news_slot_6&pm_medium=web

Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/