Florida is back in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. Thank Matt Gaetz | Opinion
Florida, so often the butt of the joke, has distinguished itself once again on the national political stage. This time, it’s Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz, previously best known for weathering a long-running sex-trafficking investigation without being charged, who has grabbed the spotlight.
The North Florida Republican led the drive on Tuesday to oust a U.S. House speaker for the first time. His actions, along with a small band of other hard-right rebels, have sowed chaos and division in government, and paralyzed the House. That means a lot of work simply won’t get done until a new House speaker is chosen. That may include failure to avert a shutdown — again — by Nov. 17.
Despite the seriousness of that, the chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, Christian Ziegler, put it this way on X: “The Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy, has been removed. First time in history. Some supported it and others opposed it, but no one can deny that FLORIDA — once again — is at the center of the political universe.“
He sounds weirdly proud — or maybe he’s just having a lemonade moment, like Beyonce — but for a whole lot of other Floridians who actually care about the welfare of the nation, this is a cringe-worthy moment, even for a lot of Republicans.
Don’t boast
It’s not enough that we have a governor whose culture wars have encouraged the worst instincts of people in Florida — though Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign has shown, embarrassingly, just how flat his ideas fall in the rest of the country.
Nor is it enough that a bunch of scary, nationalist Proud Boys who participated in the Jan. 6 destruction of the U.S. Capitol call Florida home. Or that ex-President Donald Trump, who incited that shameful insurrection, lives here, too, where he has allegedly been busy illegally stashing classified documents in places like his bathroom at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach.
Or that we are No. 1 in taking books off school shelves in what is becoming a repressive, anti-freedom state. Or that we have a state surgeon general, handpicked by DeSantis, who continues to champion misinformation on COVID vaccines. Or that we’re the state that goes after drag queens and the LGBTQ community and teaching Black history.
Nope, now we have Gaetz — whose attention-seeking behavior has seemingly earned him no friends in Washington — as the breakout star of this ugly, divisive drama. He is “Florida Man strikes again,” personified. (We may be getting his dad back, too. Former Florida Senate President Don Gaetz has decided now is the time to launch a political comeback by running for a Florida Senate seat in the Panhandle.)
His hand out
Gaetz — the son — seems to be glorying in his destructive role, posting on social media that “Speaker McCarthy has failed to take a stand where it matters. So if he won’t, I will.” He said he would “take no lecture from those who would grovel and bend knee for the lobbyists and special interests who own our leadership.”
But he had no problem asking for political donations from regular Americans while he was creating all this chaos, a fundraising move that drew widespread criticism from fellow Republicans. U.S. Rep. Garrett Graves, from Louisiana, called it “disgusting.” DeSantis said it made him “uncomfortable.”
Of course, Gaetz backs Trump for the GOP presidential nomination, so that is certainly influencing the rhetoric. And now, thanks to this sorry chapter in our history, Gaetz is also being discussed as a possible contender for Florida governor in 2026.
Just what we need.
Ziegler’s response, though, is off point. The actions of Gaetz and his spite-filled gang mean the country will suffer. Border security, the deficit, inflation, Social Security, drugs — you name the issue, it’s not getting done anytime soon, as dysfunction grips Congress. The work of the people is being sacrificed on the altar of Gaetz’s ambitions. He wants to gain attention and create a higher profile to further his own political career, and he is succeeding.
And the fact that Florida is in the middle of all this? Cringe.
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