GOP in-fighting has reached a point that many are calling homophobic after Liz Cheney's aide took a jab at Matt Gaetz for wearing makeup.
The aide's comment, made to the conservative Washington Examiner, came as a response to Gaetz planning to attend a Cheyenne, Wyoming rally on Thursday. The rally is intended to pressure Cheney to resign over her support of Trump's second impeachment.
There have been rumors Gaetz is gunning for Cheney's position in the House.
The Florida rep addressed the rumors in a tweet promoting the rally.
One of Cheney's aides was discussing Gaetz's attendance at the rally when they quipped:
"Rep. Gaetz can leave his beauty bag at home. In Wyoming, the men don't wear make-up."
The verbal jab is believed to be a reference to a scene in the HBO documentary, The Swamp. In it, Gaetz is speaking while applying makeup before going on camera.
The intense lighting required for broadcasting can make a person appear washed out and sickly, so makeup is industry standard for most people regardless of sex or gender. Many professionals who spend any significant length of time on camera have a "beauty bag" of some sort.
Including Gaetz.
The jab quickly found its way into the piece and onto social media.
That last tweet is particularly ironic considering the person's profile picture is a man wearing face paint.
Interestingly, quite a few people were quick to denounce mocking Gaetz for his beauty routine. People see the jab as homophobic and unimportant.
Also, people are pretty sure there are many more valid reasons to dislike the man.
It seems most people would rather see Gaetz verbally roasted for pretty much anything and everything besides his makeup.
The jab is particularly egregious considering Wyoming is where Matthew Wayne Shepard was brutally beaten, tortured and left tied to a fence to die because of his sexuality. Details of the crime horrified the world.
To some, using makeup as an insult against Gaetz was a dangerous and disrespectful move.
Considering RuPaul lives on a 600,000 acre ranch in Wyoming it's safe to say there is at least one makeup wearing man in the state. Makeup mogul Jeffree Star also has a home in Wyoming.
A quick Google search revealed that Harrison Ford, Brad Pitt, Kanye West and Matthew McConaughey all have connections to the state as well. All of these men commonly wear makeup for work.
The Arapaho, Cheyenne, Crow, Shoshone and Ute tribes all have homelands in Wyoming. Six other tribes routinely traveled through the state or lived there temporarily. Several of them wore face paint for occasions like ceremony or battle.
The reasons may be wildly different, but the fact remains that men in Wyoming do and always have worn makeup, proving the jab to be factually incorrect on top of objectionable.
Representative Liz Cheney has not made any direct comment about her aide's quote as of yet.
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