Still stinging from an embarrassing vote failure among House Republicans, Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz of Florida is now being made fun of online for trying to make a controversy out of the Pledge of Allegiance.
During a February 4 meeting of the House Judiciary Committee, Gaetz proposed each meeting of the committee begin with a recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.
Gaetz would later share the clip of Committee Chair Democrat Jerry Nadler of New York telling him no. Gaetz conveniently failed to mention Nadler's reasoning in his tweet.
The committee chair responded to Gaetz by saying:
"It's unnecessary. The House begins every day with the Pledge of Allegiance, we're covered by that...I appreciate the gentleman's suggestion but we are covered by the House. We all say the Pledge of Allegiance every day."
Many called out Gaetz for his transparent attempt to manipulate voters.
Gaetz would later go on live television and blatantly lie about Nadler's words, claiming his suggestion was shot down because Democrats thought the pledge was a "symbol of White supremacy."
Twitter turned Gaetz's manufactured drama into a meme, demanding everything now begin with the Pledge of Allegiance.
While Gaetz tried to imply his Democratic colleagues weren't upholding American values because they didn't say the Pledge of Allegiance repeatedly each day, many on Twitter pointed out he already failed to respect the most important American value—democracy.
Many online couldn't help but roll their eyes at Gaetz's tweet before responding with sarcasm.
It seems Matt Gaetz is doing everything he can to distract Americans from his role in the January 6 insurrection, but this particular attempt didn't seem to make much of a difference to Gaetz's damaged reputation.
