GOP Representative Matt Gaetz has developed a reputation for being on the Donald Trump's most ardent admirers, often going on Fox News to defend the President.
Now, it seems like that admiration might extend to one of the President's daughters.
After Tiffany Trump posted a selfie, Gaetz quote-tweeted the photo with a thirsty reply, and it's left Twitter throwing up in its collective mouth a little bit.
🔥❤️😍👍 https://t.co/IacJv4RydW— Matt Gaetz (@Matt Gaetz)1605149455.0
Gaetz's tweet was in response to a photo Tiffany posted of herself posed in the White House in a form-fitting, fire engine-red pantsuit.
And it seems the photo got Gaetz good and hot: He responded with a series of emojis: flames, a heart, a heart-eyes smiley face and a thumbs-up. The response is bad enough on its face--it's cheesy and juvenile at best, sexist and presumptuous at worst, not to mention potentially embarrassing to Trump.
After all, who wants to open Twitter to find some horny Congressman digitally leering at you like the social media version of a whistling construction worker? Gaetz's status as a sitting Congressman gives the whole thing an illicit feel, like he's making a move on the boss's daughter or something--but doing it in public.
And the age difference between the two doesn't help matters: Gaetz is 38, while Tiffany Trump is 27. All in all, the whole thing kind of smacked of the horny volleyball coach leering at the co-ed--gross and creepy, and even moreso for a sitting politician.
For her part, Trump didn't seem to mind: She quote-tweeted Gaetz's tweet with a string of emojis of her own.
😊🇺🇸❤️ https://t.co/W6jF6tmziq— Tiffany Ariana Trump (@Tiffany Ariana Trump)1605202532.0
But folks on Twitter were simply not having it. Their reactions ranged from disbelief, to anger, to plain-old grossed out.
Woke up this morning, briefly entertained the fiction that this image was the product of an actual nightmare, then… https://t.co/9gavhvtqdO— Fiddler (@Fiddler)1605193401.0
@mattgaetz @yashar Matt this is inappropriate and creepy— Asha Rangappa (@Asha Rangappa)1605150108.0
Matt Gaetz creeping on Tiffany Trump is peak “i would not need to know these people exist, let alone shudder over t… https://t.co/Yb757TISRC— FiddlingWhileHatBurns (@FiddlingWhileHatBurns)1605152267.0
Ew. Creepy and gross. https://t.co/zgYtopmSY1— Kimberley Johnson (@Kimberley Johnson)1605154404.0
on many levels ... #yuk https://t.co/2p78N4IjO8— ROSIE (@ROSIE)1605154998.0
As if our country isn't traumatized enough, now we need to imagine Matt Gaetz and Tiffany Trump together?— Amy Siskind (@Amy Siskind)1605152584.0
Below is a tweet from a sitting member of Congress. And here is a message for women everywhere: you are better th… https://t.co/DkfyjwRB8R— Natalie Montelongo (@Natalie Montelongo)1605150300.0
@mattgaetz https://t.co/Sjfc3KjDbj— Kevin M. Kruse (@Kevin M. Kruse)1605149821.0
@mattgaetz Does this feel like a classy thing to be doing on the internet?— Molly Jong-Fast🏡 (@Molly Jong-Fast🏡)1605150770.0
@mattgaetz https://t.co/kFzoQe6stp— i bless the rains down in castamere (@i bless the rains down in castamere)1605153648.0
Here's hoping that if nothing else, we won't have to watch sitting Congressman mack on the President's family members once the new administration takes office.