‘Nestor is the light of my life’: Matt Gaetz appears on Fox News with son

“It’s certainly offensive to have someone tell you that you don’t know what a certain experience is like when they know nothing about you. Nestor is the light of my life. I couldn’t imagine loving him any more if he was my own flesh and blood. I’ve raised him for the last six years, and he is just the most remarkable young man,” Gaetz told Carlson.

Later, Nestor said Richmond’s comments about participating in dialogues about equality were “hypocritical,” given his stance that an individual’s race impacts their understanding of minority group issues.

“I think it’s kind’ve unfair to tell someone that they don’t understand because they don’t have, because of their racial color. He’s fighting for equality, but if you tell someone to not get involved, that he doesn’t understand because of his color, you’re kind’ve being a hypocrite there,” Nestor said.

After the contentious argument between Richmond and Gaetz during the House hearing, the Florida congressman revealed that he raised Nestor after he legally came to the United States. Gaetz, 38, later told People that he did not formally adopt Nestor.

“For all those wondering, this is my son Nestor. We share no blood but he is my life. He came from Cuba (legally, of course) six years ago and lives with me in Florida,” Gaetz said on Twitter. “I am so proud of him and raising him has been the best, most rewarding thing I’ve done in my life.”

“Nestor turned 19 a few days ago & will be off to University. He arrived here at 12. As you can imagine, I was triggered when (to make an absurd debate point) a fellow congressman diminished the contributions of Republicans because we don’t raise non-white kids. Well, I have,” Gaetz said in a follow-up tweet.