Matt Gaetz was recently elected to the House of Representatives for a new term beginning in January.
On Friday, he said in an interview with conservative political activist Charlie Kirk that he will not return to Congress in January.
– I will still be in this fight, but it will be from a new point of view. I have no intention of joining the 119th Congress,” Gaetz said in the interview.
This means that by-elections must be held in the constituency in Florida that Gaetz represented.
Trump had nominated the Florida man for the post of attorney general. The nomination forced Gaetz to resign from Congress, which he did immediately when Trump announced his candidacy.
On Thursday, Gaetz withdrew as Trump’s nominee to avoid becoming a distraction for the new Trump/Vance administration. Since 2021, he has been under investigation by the Congressional Ethics Committee following allegations of sexual intercourse with a 17-year-old girl, human trafficking and drug use. He has always denied the accusations.
Trump has nominated Pam Bondi as attorney general after Gaetz resigned. In Friday’s interview, Gaetz praised Bondi’s nomination, insisting that he himself was the victim of a smear campaign in Washington.
– I will continue to fight for President Trump. I will do whatever he asks of me, and as I have always done. But I think that eight years is probably enough in Congress, Gaetz said in the interview.
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