The Matt Gaetz scandal has finally come home to roost

| 12:25 am EDT October 21, 2023
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There are now at least eight Republicans running for Speaker of the House, with no clear frontrunner in sight, and no sense of just how much longer this debacle might drag on. You could say that this is all the fault of Matt Gaetz, since he’s the one who moved to oust Kevin McCarthy to begin with. But that skips over a step.

The horrific details of the Matt Gaetz alleged underage sex trafficking scandal surfaced a few years ago. House Republicans could easily have expelled this guy back in 2021 and allowed his far right district to replace him with another Republican. The GOP wouldn’t have even lost a seat over it.

But House Republicans didn’t do that. They failed to take out the proverbial trash back then. They kept Gaetz around, because they were too weak to take action against him, or because Trump wanted Gaetz to stay, or because they’re all just idiots. Take your pick. But they kept Gaetz around, in a move that was both morally indefensible and strategically stupid.

And now Matt Gaetz is the one who’s causing all these nightmarish problems for these same House Republicans who could have easily gotten rid of him awhile ago. They did this to themselves. The Matt Gaetz scandal has come home to roost, against the very people who protected him. They weren’t “getting away” with anything by failing to expel Gaetz. They were digging their own political graves.

Dear Palmer Report readers, we all understand the difficult era we're heading into. Major media outlets are caving to Trump already. Even the internet itself and publishing platforms may be at risk. But Palmer Report is nonetheless going to lead the fight. We're funding our 2025 operating expenses now, so we can keep publishing no matter what happens. I'm asking you to contribute if you can, because the stakes are just so high. You can donate here.