Firebrand Republican Reps. Matt Gaetz of Florida Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia are teaming up to start an “America First Tour” of rallies around the country.
The premiere event will be next week, on May 7 in Florida at The Villages, the world’s largest retiree playground with a reliably Republican base.
“There are millions of Americans who need to know they still have advocates in Washington D.C., and the America First movement is consistently growing and fighting,” Gaetz said in a statement provided to the Washington Examiner Thursday. “The issues that motivate us include ending America’s forever-wars, fixing the border Joe Biden broke on day one, prioritizing Americans not illegal migrants, reshoring industries sold to foreign adversaries, ensuring real election integrity, and taking on the threat of the Chinese Communist Party. These issues are bigger than any one election and we remain ready to take our party and our country back.”
GAETZ LAUNCHES SIX FIGURE AD IN DISTRICT DEFENDING HIMSELF
Gaetz’s rally series comes a month after news broke of a federal investigation exploring whether he had sexual relations with a minor or paid for sex, which grew out of a broader investigation into Joel Greenberg, a former tax collector in Seminole County, Florida, who was indicted in 2020 on charges including sex trafficking of a minor and financially supporting people in exchange for sex. The House Ethics Committee has also opened an investigation to “gather additional information” about the allegations of inappropriate behavior from Gaetz. He has repeatedly denied doing anything illegal, no woman has publicly accused Gaetz of wrongdoing, and he has charged that the investigation is tied to a bizarre overture to his father seeking a $25 million loan.
Greene, one of Gaetz’s few Republican defenders in Congress, has faced her own political blowback. Democrats in the House voted to strip the Georgia representative from her committee assignments earlier this year over past incendiary social media interactions and support of conspiracy theories, which she said in a speech she does “absolutely regret.”
Earlier this month, Gaetz endorsed a draft “America First Caucus” platform reportedly being planned by Greene and Arizona Republican Rep. Paul Gosar. Language in the draft that praised “Anglo-Saxon political traditions,” which Greene’s spokesman later said she had not personally seen or approved, sparked bipartisan outrage, and plans to launch the caucus were put on hold.
“President Donald Trump showed Republicans how to fight,” Greene said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “And President Trump also taught us how to hold a rally! Bringing people together to put America First is the only way we will Save America and Stop Socialism. That’s why my friend Matt Gaetz and I are launching our America First Tour.”
Gaetz’s campaign, which last week released a six-figure television and digital ad in his district defending himself from the allegations of inappropriate behavior, is sponsoring the rally.
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Additional “America First Tour” rally dates will be announced in the future.
Below is Greene’s full statement:
“President Donald Trump showed Republicans how to fight. How to fight for the American people. How to fight for the American dream. How to fight for the American family and the American worker. He taught us how to put America First. Building the wall, protecting the unborn, defending gun rights, promoting American businesses and bringing jobs back, opposing endless war, and stopping our enemies like China. That is the America First agenda. And President Trump also taught us how to hold a rally! Bringing people together to put America First is the only way we will Save America and Stop Socialism. That’s why my friend Matt Gaetz and I are launching our America First Tour to outline our vision for the America First Agenda in Congress. I’ll always put People over politicians because it’s you, the American people, who will save this country. We’ll see you in Florida!”
