Embattled former Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz — who is selling videos on Cameo after withdrawing his name from consideration to become Donald Trump’s attorney general — is now eyeing a Senate run.
Gaetz told the crowd at Turning Point USA’s event in Phoenix Sunday ahead of an appearance byTrump that he was considering running for the seat of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Trump’s nominee for secretary of state.
“Many have asked which perch I will be fighting from next,” he said.
“It seems I may not have had enough support in the United States Senate,” he noted, referring to lack of backing to become the nation’s next attorney general. “Maybe I’ll just run for Marco Rubio’s vacant seat in the United States Senate and join some of those folks,” Gaetz added.
Gaetz resigned from the House shortly after being nominated after he was met with mounting concerns in the Senate over wide-ranging allegations, including sexual misconduct and illicit drug use claims. He has denied all wrongdoing. The Florida Republican ultimately withdrew his name from consideration after he realized he wouldn’t have enough support to be confirmed by the Senate.
The former Florida congressman floated his latest idea ahead of the release of the highly-anticipated House Ethics Committee’s report into sex-trafficking allegations against him.
The House panel quietly voted earlier this month to release the report, which is expected to be made public Monday, CBS News reported.
A woman reportedly testified to the committee that she had sexual encounters with Gaetz at a party in 2017 — when she was just 17 years old. Records also show that Gaetz paid more than $10,000 to women, ABC News reported. Gaetz allegedly labeled these Venmo and Paypal payments to women for “being awesome” and “being my friend,” but some of them were allegedly used in transactions for sex.
Earlier this week, Gaetz admitted that he “probably partied, womanized, drank and smoked” more than he should have in his 30s and that he sent money to “women he dated.” However, he said that he “NEVER had sexual contact with someone under 18.”
Gaetz’s suggestion that he may make a run for the Senate comes as Lara Trump, the former Republican National Committee co-chair and the president-elect’s daughter-in-law, said she was dropping her bid for Rubio’s seat.
“After an incredible amount of thought, contemplation, and encouragement from so many, I have decided to remove my name from consideration for the United States Senate,” she wrote Saturday in a post on X.
At the Phoenix conference, Gaetz revealed other suggestions that people had for his political future.
Some people have suggested he “eye the governor’s mansion in Tallahassee” while still others urged him to become “special counsel to go after the insider trading for my former colleagues in Congress,” Gaetz revealed.
While Gaetz has spent recent weeks making videos on Cameo for $325 a pop, One America News Network (OAN) announced in December that Gaetz will be joining the conservative channel in January. He will be hosting “The Matt Gaetz Show,” a one-hour political talk show every weeknight at 9 p.m. E.T., the network said in a release.
