The Bizarre Origin Story of the Gaetz Scandal
What Next | Daily News and Analysis
Slate Podcasts
4.3 • 2.4K Ratings
🗓️ 5 April 2021
⏱️ 25 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Last week, The New York Times reported that Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz was under investigation by the Justice Department over his relationships with women recruited online for sex, and whether he had sex with a 17-year-old girl. Gaetz gained national attention for his trollish, Trumpian antics and fiery loyalty to the then-president. What happens if the Trump playbook doesn’t work for the 38-year-old congressman?
Guest: Jeff Weiner, Criminal Justice and Public Safety Editor for the Orlando Sentinel
Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | I know you're a reporter, but would you call Matt Gates a troll? |
| 0:11.3 | I would not argue with anyone who did. |
| 0:16.4 | Jeff Weiner writes for the Orlando Sentinel, and we asked him to come on the show to explain what exactly is happening with Florida Congressman Matt Gates. |
| 0:26.8 | Last week, it was reported Gates is under investigation for sex trafficking. |
| 0:31.0 | But before we get into all that, Jeff says, you got to understand who Matt Gates is. |
| 0:37.9 | Jeff might not want to spell it out in an article about the congressman. |
| 0:41.4 | But he says, most people would agree. |
| 0:45.0 | Matt Gates is a troll. |
| 0:47.2 | I'm not even sure that he would object to that term, to be honest. |
| 0:50.6 | You know, I think that it's something that is almost objectively true of him, that he, you know, that in the way that we think of an internet troll, which is someone who, you know, kind of courts confrontation for effect, I think that absolutely applies to him. |
| 1:06.2 | Jeff's got plenty of evidence here. |
| 1:08.9 | I mean, I think that the most notorious example was probably early on in the pandemic when |
| 1:14.9 | he wore a gas mask onto the House floor. |
| 1:17.4 | So we're back now with Republican Congressman Matt Gates seen here wearing a gas mask as the |
| 1:23.1 | House passed a multi-billion dollar funding bill to fight the coronavirus outbreak. |
| 1:28.6 | You know, that definitely got a lot of national attention. |
| 1:31.6 | It was a national story, I think, on every single network. |
| 1:35.2 | Gates got what he wanted there. |
| 1:36.4 | He got the picture. |
| 1:37.2 | He got the news club. |
| 1:38.1 | He got us talking about him. |
| 1:40.5 | There's the time that he stormed a classified impeachment hearing that was in a secured room |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Slate Podcasts, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Slate Podcasts and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.

