Why Did Newsmax Reject Matt Gaetz?
On March 30, Axios reported that Representative Matt Gaetz was considering an early retirement from his congressional term to take a job at Newsmax. The report was buried later that day, as the public learned of a federal investigation into Gaetz for allegedly having sex with a 17-year-old girl and taking her across state lines. Given the timing of the two stories, it appears that Gaetz may have been attempting to find a fallback plan in the event that the scandal cut his congressional term short. Newsmax has had no plans to hire Rep. Gaetz, network spokesperson Brian Peterson said in a statement to Reuters on Monday. A source told Reuters that although Gaetz approached Newsmax about a potential job earlier this year, it was just a conversation and Newsmax never told him [it was] interested in hiring him. Spokespeople for Gaetz had no immediate comment on any rejection from Newsmax, according to Reuters. (Gaetz has denied all wrongdoing.) Gaetz may have assumed that Newsmax would be an appropriate landing place, given its devotion to Donald Trump and willingness to offer airtime to prominent men accused of sexual misconduct, as noted by the Daily Beast. Newsmax anchor Mark Halperin was a political media star before he was forced out of his cushy gigs at NBC News and Showtime due to a flurry of sexual harassment allegations made against him in 2017. (He later apologized to women he mistreated, though said some of the allegations against him were not true.) Halperin hosts a show on Newsmax called Mark Halperins Focus Group and had used his perch to defend Gaetz. Everybodys entitled to a presumption of innocence, Halperin said of the Florida Republican, per the Daily Beast. While there are anonymous allegations in The New York Times and elsewhere, lets see what the facts actually are. Lets try to take a breath and give him a chance. The networks primetime star host is Greg Kelly, who was investigated in 2012 over rape allegations while he was a host on Fox channel 5 in New York. (He denied any wrongdoing at the time and the case against him was eventually dropped). Disgraced cable news king and walking sexual harassment lawsuit Bill OReilly also frequently appears on the network. (OReilly has denied allegations against him). It speaks volumes that the network is publicly refusing to even consider throwing Gaetz a life preserver. Though Gaetz has pleaded his innocence on the networka platform that may be his last hope, given that Fox News appears to be done with him. The congressmans failed attempt to join cable news is not the first time he proposed ditching his congressional seat in the lead-up to the news breaking about his scandal. In February, he contemplated leaving the House to dedicate his life to defending Trump during the former presidents impeachment trial. But Gaetz now has bigger legal battles to consider, especially now that his former associate Joel Greenberg, who is alleged to have procured women for Gaetz, including the 17-year-old, has pleaded guilty to sex trafficking charges. As part of the plea, Greenberg agreed to cooperate with federal investigators, which could spell doom for Gaetz. Join Vanity Fair to receive full access to VF.com and the complete online archive now.