Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), it’s fair to say, aren’t good buddies.
The two men have taken shots at one another in the media, even if Swalwell once said on Jimmy Kimmel Live that Gaetz will come up to him and say hi in restaurants, while others like Jim Jordan and Ted Cruz will be nice to him on occasion (Swalwell said in the same interview that Marjorie Taylor Greene “wants to kill me” in the event they see each other at restaurants).
In 2022, Gaetz denied a report that Swalwell was “in cahoots” with him when Gaetz and other conservatives were trying to depose House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. And Gaetz, in a 2023 podcast interview, once defended Swalwell when the California Democrat was found to have socialized with a Chinese spy.
Give Matt Gaetz this: he puts horndog solidarity ahead of partisanship: pic.twitter.com/50K2miF0ZY
— Stephen Silver (@StephenSilver) January 16, 2023
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But more often, the two have tangled:
Quite easily, actually.
Are all Democrats so willing, @ericswalwell?
Will my NorCal twitter troll have the courage and efficacy to become my dem whip??
If I’ll work with @aoc to ban congressional stock trading I’ll absolutely work with @ericswalwell to rid the House of… https://t.co/ygbw9mhifO
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) September 11, 2023
Swalwell also once went after Gaetz for bringing a man once accused of murder with him to a Congressional committee meeting.
Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) slams Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) for bringing “somebody that he met at a gun club” to the first House Judiciary Committee hearing to lead the Pledge of Allegiance.
Turns out, Gaetz’s honored guest was charged with killing a family member in April 2019. pic.twitter.com/15Dzmo343u
— The Recount (@therecount) February 28, 2023
This week, Gaetz and Swalwell tangled again, after the Florida Congressman posted a note from a “friend” in Georgia who reported that “shooting, looting, price gauging [sic]” and other bad things were taking place in the aftermath of the hurricane.
Swalwell quote-tweeted Gaetz, referencing the Congressman’s recent scandals.
Do her parents know she’s texting you? https://t.co/Rsxrmt6gJW
— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) October 4, 2024
Since 2021, Gaetz has been under investigation by the House Ethics Committee, which is looking into whether Gaetz “may have engaged in sexual misconduct and/or illicit drug use, shared inappropriate images or videos on the House floor, misused state identification records, converted campaign funds to personal use, and/or accepted a bribe, improper gratuity, or impermissible gift, in violation of House Rules, laws, or other standards of conduct.”
Gaetz was told in early 2023 that he would not be charged with a crime in conjunction with an earlier Justice Department probe, although the Congressman was recently named in a lawsuit placing him at a “sex party” with teenaged girls present.
Photo courtesy of Political Tribune media library.