Matt Gaetz Bizarrely Claims That Media Outlets Are Threatening His Friends

Embattled Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz recently told a podcast host that reporters from outlets like The Daily Beast and Mother Jones have been "threatening" his associates, saying that if they don't come forward with dirt on the Congressman then they are going to be "smeared." Gaetz provided no actual evidence to back up these claims, but insisted that he's seen the threats firsthand. This is the same guy who claimed he was the victim of an extortion plot that turned out to be false, so take his words with a grain of salt. Ring of Fire's Farron Cousins discusses this.

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*This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any typos.

Last week during an appearance on the John Solomon reports podcast, embattled Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz made the claim that reporters at major outlets like Mother Jones and the Daily Beast, those were two he named by name, are actually threatening people that he knows to come forward with allegations against the congressmen. Here's what Matt Gaetz said in his own words. Time and time again, what a reporter will do is contact someone that maybe I've had a relationship with. Maybe I haven't had any relationship with. Maybe I've only been in the same room with one time. But they'll say to a person, quote, you know, look, we're going to write your name into a story that will have sex trafficking and Matt Gaetz in the headline, unless you provide us some bad information, some embarrassing conduct about gates. And if you do that, well, then your name will be protected. Your reputation will be protected, end quote. So that's what Matt Gaetz claims is taking place with reporters for the Daily Beast and Mother Jones. The only problem that Gaetz has is that he was unable to provide any evidence whatsoever of reporters actually doing this.

Now, there is evidence that some reporters have been exceptionally dogged in their pursuit of information on Matt Gaetz. Some of them asking, again, these people Gaetz may or may not have had relationships with, according to him, asking him if they know anything about Matt Gaetz having bisexual relationships, you know, doing drugs, things like that. You know, not accusing him of it, but saying we've heard reports. Can you verify any of this? And of course these individuals have mostly said, no, we can't. This is kind of absurd. So sure. Yeah. I mean, that's a question, but that's not a threat. Then they did point to one instance where allegedly a reporter asked a woman, hey, we have pictures of you at a party with Matt Gaetz and there's cocaine there. We want you to confirm that this is in fact, you know, what, what was at the party here. And as long as you confirm, we're not gonna use your name in this. But if you do not confirm, we're going to have to name you, because it's in the photograph. So, yeah. And the reason for that, by the way, this is not journalists threatening individuals, it's we either have to post the photograph showing these things, or you can just confirm it.

And then we don't have to show the photograph because it was confirmed by somebody who attended the party. That's journalism. That's not a threat from these individuals like Matt Gaetz claims it is. And of course, as he said, nobody has ever threatened to smear someone if they don't give them the information that they're looking for. That is not true. That is a lie that Matt Gaetz made up and to be honest, these news outlets may have a good case against Matt Gaetz, should they to, you know, file something against him for what he's saying about their outlets. But here's the thing anyway, Matt Gaetz is obviously in major damage control mode. The story keeps getting worse for him. The walls seem to be closing in with witnesses cooperating with federal authorities.