Mother Jones – September 01, 2019

SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2019 | MOTHER JONES 65

a Gaetz staffer had crowdsourced ideas for
the amendment on the Reddit forum /r/
the_Donald, a cesspool of alt-right activity.
Like so many of Gaetz’s stunts, the
amendment succeeded in getting him
on TV, which earned him praise from the
president and more regular appearances
on Fox News. In the past year, he has ap-
peared more than 70 times on the network,
and Sean Hannity has campaigned for him
in Florida. “If the political system incen-
tivizes crazy behavior with rewards, you
get more crazy behavior,” says Schmidt,
the gop strategist. “Being a sober, serious
statesman is not the path to cable news
stardom for members of Congress.”
There is one thing Gaetz would prefer to
keep out of the media: his love life. Two years
ago, a former staffer sent him a blunt text
message about a 21-year-old woman Gaetz
was dating, who would later become a Dem-
ocratic congressional intern, urging him to
ask the woman to delete photos of him from
her Instagram account. The staffer wrote,
“Don’t be surprised if many of the conser-
vatives and competitors, like Cris Dosev in
Florida CD1, may frown upon her sexually
explicit images, her videos showcasing her
multiple capabilities to smoke weed, and her
flagrant application of language as antitheti-
cal to the values of Northwest Florida.”
Gaetz declined multiple requests from
Mother Jones for an interview, but one day,
out of the blue, he called to beg me not to
identify the women he’s dated. “I am plead-
ing with you not to identify them,” he said.
“Identifying puts them at risk.” Gaetz said
he gets death threats “from the same demo-
graphic of people who shot up the Repub-
lican baseball game.” He added, “I’m not a
monk. I’m just a congressman.”
It’s hard to say what kind of congressman
Gaetz really is. In his first term, he missed
more votes than all but seven freshman
House members. And his Trump booster-
ism seems to accomplish a lot less for his
constituents than for himself. On his of-
fice’s 17-point list of “Trump Wins” for his
district, there are few items of substance
amid the various instances of flattery by the
president. Gaetz takes credit for Trump’s
decision to ban oil drilling off the coast of
Florida, an issue every other member of
the state’s congressional delegation also
championed. He says he persuaded the
president to include $124 million for north-
west Florida military projects in his 2020

budget, even though most of those projects

had been in military budget planning doc-

uments before Gaetz was elected. The two

solid achievements on his list are extending

red snapper fishing season over Labor Day

in 2017 and working with the president’s

daughter-in-law Lara Trump to create

dog-training programs in federal prisons.

Like a lot of people in his district, I won-

dered whether Gaetz’s bombast even played

well with his own family, which until re-

cently occupied a genteel corner of the Pan-

handle’s Republican establishment. I asked

Gaetz what his family dinner conversations

were like and whether his dad approved of

the way he was doing his job. “I believe my

father is very proud of me,” he said. He told

me about the time he invited his father to

Trump’s 2019 State of the Union address.

While his dad was in town, Gaetz took him

to the Trump International Hotel for dinner.

As luck would have it, Trump was also dining

there and came over to say hello. “He told

my dad what a great member of Congress

I was,” he said. “I can only imagine what a

proud moment that must be for a father.”Q

These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

Use as directed. Individual results may vary.

Call Now & Ask How To Get A

FREE BONUS BOTTLE

CALL TOLL-FREE 1- 888-615-6266

Limited

Time

Offer

    





   

     

   





       



    

     

            

   



    

                    

  

       

        

  

!

   





  

   

 



   "     

"

   !

      





#           

          

     

  

        

     

  



   

 $        



  BetterWOMAN

%       #         $%&'(        

    

)   

      



                            

      

            

 





    

%       #  

  $%&'(              

   

    *     

   

 +    

   

    

    

     ,

           

, 

         -     

       

     

  " .    $%&'(    

   #      

       *

All Natural

Clinically-Tested

Herbal Supplement

• Reduces Bladder Leaks


• Reduces Urinary Frequency


• Safe and Effective –
  No Known Side Effects


• Costs Less than Traditional
  Bladder Control Options


• Sleep Better All Night


• Live Free of Worry,
  Embarrassment, and
  Inconvenience
  You don·t have to let
  bladder control problems
  control you.
  Call now!

  

     

Bladder Control

Also Available: BetterMAN

®

. /0

01 

 +   ' (   

$  BLADDER    $  PROSTATE    $  STAMINA!

Order online at http://www.BetterMANnow.com.

or order online: http://www.BetterWOMANnow.com

BetterMAN and BetterWOMAN are the trademarks of Interceuticals, Inc. ©2019 Interceuticals, Inc.

TROLL STORY

(continued from page 39)