A day on the Hill with Rep. Matt Gaetz, who has used an aggressive, MAGA-happy media strategy to become one of the most high-profile Republicans in Congress. But at what cost?
The result has been headlines, which are worth their weight in committee assignments in the reality-TV fun house Trump has fashioned out of Washington. Gaetz can’t seem to go more than a week or two without manufacturing a clickbait-ready piece of chum to throw to the press, which has largely obliged him.
I ask Gaetz about this, but he doesn’t particularly care for the question, visibly taking offense at the suggestion that an agenda predicated on clicks should be carried out with caution. “It’s a hell of a note from areporter to tell me I’m too entertaining,” he snaps. “I guess I’ll take it as a compliment.”
Over the course of so many media appearances, so many talking points tread and retread, Gaetz has attained a kind of flow state with his performative self. “I try to stay in a constant state of preparation,” he says. “Walking around here, a reporter can stick a microphone under your nose and ask you a question at any moment in time, and they frequently do with me. I think the relationship I’ve built with the press is that they expect an honest answer from me.
This kind of fealty to Trump is at the heart of Gaetz’s media presence and political stature, and along with the president’s precious online nods and phone calls, it has garnered him IRL invites to Mar-a-Lago and the World Series, where Gaetz made sure to snap a selfie to broadcast back to his constituents.
“The issues were different and there wasn’t as much Fox News coverage, but you could argue he was doing the same things in the state Legislature,” says Schale, adding that Gaetz was a “disruptive force” who “wasn’t afraid to take a shot at his own colleagues” and that “there were people who grudgingly respected his ability to create his own news cycle.”
Tobia makes clear that this isn’t how he felt personally, only that it was the sense he got from others whom Gaetz had rubbed the wrong way. This includes Cris Dosev, a Trump–loving combat veteran who ran for the House seat Gaetz won in 2016 before unsuccessfully trying to primary him two years later. “He had a lot of cover from his dad,” says Dosev. “The kid knows how to make sure he has an umbrella of protection over him, and he’s very effectively done the same thing with President Trump.
Brasil Últimas Notícias, Brasil Manchetes
Similar News:Você também pode ler notícias semelhantes a esta que coletamos de outras fontes de notícias.
Inside The One Show host Matt Baker's home life on a Hertfordshire farmMatt Baker house: The One Show host lives on a farm in Hertfordshire with his wife and children
Consulte Mais informação »
New Jersey PlaybookTrying to keep with Jersey’s political scene? Don’t miss out on MattFriedmanNJ’s essential briefing on the Garden State's important political news of the day. Sign up for POLITICO’s New Jersey Playbook today.
Consulte Mais informação »
A woman donated her kidney to her mentor. He gave her a beauty salon to say thank youHer friend and mentor gave her the Washington, D.C. beauty shop she'd managed for years to thank her after she donated one of her kidneys to him.
Consulte Mais informação »
DevaCurl Creates 'Curl Care Council' Following Hair-Loss AllegationsDevaCurl has announced that the company is taking an additional step by recruiting industry professionals and customers to chime in as a 'Professional Curl Care Council'.
Consulte Mais informação »
Kim Kardashian Looks Completely Different With Honey 'Bronde' WavesSharing a video on her Instagram stories, Kim Kardashian revealed a total hair transformation—she's switched up her deep brown hair for honey blonde waves.
Consulte Mais informação »
Julia Louis-Dreyfus Considers the Ethical Question of 'Downhill': 'We All Think We Would Stay'Ahead of the release of her latest film Downhill, Julia Louis-Dreyfus dropped by 'The Late Show' on Tuesday to chat with host Stephen Colbert about the ethical questions of the black comedy film, a remake of 2014's 'Force Majeure'
Consulte Mais informação »