- Rep. Tony Gonzales welcomed President Mike Johnson’s ignoring of Republican Party ‘fringes’ in pushing for aid to Ukraine.
- He accused Rep. Matt Gaetz of paying minors to have sex with him.
- Gonzales also accused the Republican fringe of using ‘white hoods.’
Rep. Tony Gonzales condemned some of his House Republican colleagues as “scumbags” in “white hoods” and directly attacked Rep. Matt Gaetz in an interview with CNN on Sunday.
“It’s an absolute honor to be in Congress, but I work with some real scumbags,” Gonzales (R-TX) said on CNN’s Face the Nation on Sunday. “Look, Matt Gaetz, he paid minors to have sex with him at drug parties.”
CNN anchor Dana Bash was taken aback by the allegation and reminded viewers that Gaetz had not been prosecuted over the allegations.
‘Wow. “Okay,” she responded. “I have to say that the federal government investigated Matt Gaetz and those allegations and decided not to prosecute.”
Republican Congressman Tony Gonzales (R-TX) called some of his Republican colleagues “trash.”
United States Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL)
Bash was referring to reports in February 2023 that the Justice Department had decided not to charge Gaetz in an investigation after he was accused of being part of a scheme that led to the sex trafficking of a 17-year-old girl.
Gaetz angered many Republicans after he led the campaign to oust former President Kevin McCarthy from office in October, sparking a party-wide crisis as they struggled to name a successor.
Gonzales said President Mike Johnson would survive any threat to remove him, as a pair of Republicans threatened to remove him after advancing a vote to send more than $60 billion in aid to Ukraine.
“Look, the House is a tough, loud place, but Mike Johnson will be fine,” he said.
Gonzales also took umbrage with his colleague, Rep. Bob Good (R-VA), for endorsing his primary opponent, Brandon Herrera.
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“Bob Good endorsed my opponent, a known neo-Nazi,” he said. “These people used to walk around in white hoods at night, now they walk around in white hoods during the day.”
Gonzales was referring to a 2022 YouTube video in which Herrera and a colleague showed them marching to a German song during an inspection of a historic MP-40 submachine gun.
Harrerra responded to Gonzales’ accusations on social media.
“This is the death spiral, ladies and gentlemen,” he said. wrote, highlighting the moment on CNN. “He has to cry in front of his liberal friends for me, because Republicans don’t listen to me anymore.”