Matt Gaetz Denies Alluding to GOP Colleague's Sexuality

Representative Matt Gaetz, a Republican from Florida, accused Representative Jason Smith, a Republican from Missouri, of "living a lie," sparking speculation on social media about Smith's sexuality, but Gaetz told Newsweek he was talking about something else entirely.

Gaetz's accusation came after Smith went on The Marc Cox Morning Show on Thursday and accused Gaetz's of being the catalyst of chaos among House Republicans. During the show, a clip was played of Gaetz saying that it was not him, but Representative Kevin McCarthy, a Republican from California, that threw the House into disunity for three weeks while the GOP struggled to find a Speaker after Gaetz introduced the motion to oust McCarthy, which lead to a successful vote on October 3. Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, eventually won the Speakership on Wednesday.

"Let me just tell you, if Matt Gaetz's lips are moving, it's only lies that's coming out of it," Smith said in response to Gaetz's claim that McCarthy was sabotaging other Speaker candidates so that he could return to the Speakership. "That gentleman only loves to propel himself and propaganda...Matt Gaetz is accusing Kevin McCarthy for everything that he's doing," Smith said.

The congressman from Missouri continued: "For Matt Gaetz to say that kind of stuff it's simply not true. I know the dynamics of the 20 people that voted for Steve Scalise, the 25 that voted against Tom Emmer, and the 22 that voted against Jim Jordan. They were not the same people. They were all different people and it was for different reasons, so Matt Gaetz is a foolish liar."

Subsequently, Gaetz accused Smith of being a liar on his podcast Firebrand with Matt Gaetz. "Jason Smith says if my lips are moving, I'm lying. Well, you know what? If Jason Smith is breathing, he is living a lie. There might not be another member of Congress who lives a lie everyday more than Jason Smith and Jason Smith knows exactly what I am talking about. And by the way, so does almost every member of the House Republican caucus."

Gaetz went on: "So, there's a good deal of projection in Jason Smith calling me a liar when it's Jason Smith who literally has to live a lie and I honestly pity him for that because it wouldn't be something that—I wouldn't live that way. I'll just put it that way. So, Jason, I would check yourself before you come at me with any accusations of being dishonest about what I say, when you're dishonest about how you live..."

Newsweek reached out to Smith via email for comment on Friday.

When asked by Newsweek what Gaetz was implying by his statement amid online speculation that he was "outing" Smith's sexuality, the congressman said: "I was explicitly stating and referencing the dishonest life Jason Smith lives as a special interest shill. Obviously. I have no comment on the direct question you asked regarding Rep. Smith's sexual orientation. I honestly don't care. I only care when he loves lobbyists too much."

Initially, people on social media were speculating if Gaetz's comments on his podcast had to do with the unmarried congressman's sexuality.

Ron Filipkowski, Editor-in-Chief of MeidasTouch, said on X, formerly Twitter: "Chair of House Ways and Means says Matt Gaetz 'is a foolish liar.' Gaetz then responds by outing Jason Smith as a closeted gay man."

Tim Miller, writer-at-large at The Bulwark, wrote on X: "Matt Gaetz appears to be outing the Republican Chairman of the Ways and Means committee on his podcast. Guess that was about 24 hours of unity for the House GOP."

"Ummmm, did Matt Gaetz just out one of his colleagues as retribution?" Justin Baragona, senior media reporter at The Daily Beast, wrote on X. Ryan Grim, D.C. bureau chief at The Intercept, replied: "Yeah, Gaetz basically just outed Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith."

Smith has shown repeated opposition to same-sex marriage, speaking out against the notorious Supreme Court case Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage nationwide in June 2015.

"As the son of a preacher, I have never wavered in my commitment to the biblical definition of marriage, and in our state, more than a million Missourians voted to define marriage as between one man and one woman. Until today, it was the right of each state to determine how they wished to define marriage," Smith said at the time.

He continued: "The Supreme Court wrote yesterday that it is not in the Court's scope of power to undo the law. Yet, with today's ruling, five unelected, unaccountable judges in Washington, D.C., stripped more than a million Missourians of their voice and of their vote by tearing a page out of the Missouri constitution."

In 2022, Smith also voted against the Respect for Marriage Act, a bill that was passed and signed into law, granting federal protections for same-sex and interracial marriages.

The bill had significant bipartisan support, however, Smith, along with three other Republican representatives from Missouri, voted against the bill.

In January, an allegation regarding Gaetz's own sexual orientation was circling online. Rebekah Jones, the Democrat candidate House Republican Gaetz defeated in November 2022, said on X: "Matt Gaetz is believed to be having an affair with his press secretary, Joel Valdez, according to three independent sources...This is not Gaetz' first affair, nor is it his first w/a man."

Gaetz's office fervently denied the allegations at the time calling them "totally false and libelous."

Update 10/27/23, 5:10 p.m. ET: This article's headline has been updated.