Why Matt Gaetz Seems To Be Everything Republicans Claimed About Hunter Biden
The tables have turned.
Getty Images Republicans and their supporters have been using accusations of sex trafficking as a political grenade since the rise of QAnon conspiracy theories — but when allegation call out one of their own, the silence is deafening.
Rep. Matt Gaetz has found himself at the center of a Justice Department investigation into child sex trafficking amid allegations that he had been conducting a relationship with a 17-year-old.
It’s the kind of accusation that, if Gaetz’s name was replaced with Hunter Biden’s, would have very different coverage.
Yet, as more and more disturbing details about Gaetz’s misconduct comes out, the GOP has continued to turn a blind eye.
Allegations against Gaetz echo the exaggerations used against Hunter Biden.
The world watched as more and more baseless claims against Hunter Biden became ammunition against his father throughout the 2020 election trail.
In an unsuccessful vie for Trump to reclaim the election from President Biden, Hunter became the target of a vicious campaign filled with baseless rumors about a whole range of sexual acts.
The allegations came from an uncorroborated Facebook post and contents allegedly from Biden’s personal laptop that were leaked on a Chinese website.
These became part of a somewhat hypocritical narrative driven by the Trump campaign that essentially told followers to never trust anything the Chinese say or do unless it compromises Biden.
We knew when these allegations were coming to light that they were being weaponized by a President who had said and done many equally questionable things in his dealings with women.
Biden writes about this in his memoir Beautiful Things, saying, “Trump believed that if he could destroy me, and by extension my father, he could dispatch any candidate of decency from either party — all while diverting attention from his own corrupt behavior.”
What we couldn’t have known, but perhaps should have suspected, is that the accusations would pale in comparison to those at the center of the Gaetz investigation. Yes, that’s right, an actual investigation — not just a Facebook post.
People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.
Beware of those who are so quick to point fingers. Gaetz didn’t hesitate to join in on the Hunter Biden scapegoating game, all while hiding his own sordid past.
Perhaps the Republican obsession with sex trafficking and personal scandals is a form of projection, an attempt to distract from their own illicit activities.
Biden recalls Gaetz mocking his addiction problems during the House Judiciary Committee’s hearing for Trump’s first impeachment.
“‘I don’t want to make light of anybody’s substance abuse issues …’ Gaetz said, snickering for the cameras as he made light of my substance abuse issues,” Biden writes,
“‘Again, I’m not … casting any judgment on any challenges someone goes through in their personal life,’ Gaetz continued, as he cast judgment on my personal life.”
The irony would almost be laughable if it wasn’t so very disturbing. Gaetz maintained an innate smugness in his dealings with Biden considering his moral high ground was built on the back of his own hidden scandals.
But the willingness of Republicans to target Biden while shielding misconducts of their own also exposes the dangers of giving people with a hidden agenda the power to exploit others.
Republican silence on Gaetz is deafening.
When there is a slight inclining of a Biden stepping out of line it’s a matter of national importance that must be brought up everywhere from Presidential debates to the House floor. But when it’s one of their own, Republicans have a fantastic ability to look away from anything that might tarnish them.
Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene defended Gaetz from “conspiracy theories,” but other party members have become complicit through silence.
The opportunity to stand up and do the right thing by calling for Gaetz’s resignation has gone completely ignored.
Not even Hunter Biden, their usual scapegoat can save them from the mess Gaetz has created for the GOP.
“Where’s Hunter?” Biden imagines Trump and his supporters saying every time their actions need covering up. “I’m right here. I’ve faced and survived worse… I’m not going anywhere.”
Alice Kelly is a writer living in Brooklyn, New York. Catch her covering all things social justice, news, and entertainment.