Today, following a testy exchange with Representative Cedric Richmond over police reform and race, Florida man Matt Gaetz has revealed the existence of a previously secret Cuban son, a truthful if stunningly opportunistic disclosure.
On Wednesday, during a House Judiciary Committee markup meeting, Richmond, a Democrat, accused Republicans of stalling proposed legislation on police reform. “I am absolutely sitting here offended,” the representative said. “To my colleagues, especially the ones that keep introducing amendments that are a tangent and a distraction from what we’re talking about, you all are white males, you never lived in my shoes and you do not know what it’s like to be an African American male.”
“Are you suggesting that you’re certain that none of us have nonwhite children?” Gaetz asked, no doubt already planning his adult son reveal. Never one to let a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity pass him by, Gaetz wasted less than 24 hours before unveiling the existence of 19-year old Nestor Galban, born in Cuba and raised by Gaetz for the last six years under circumstances that still remain somewhat unclear.
According to the Congressman’s sister, Erin, Nestor Galban “came into” the Gaetzs’ life when he was 12, having “lost his mother.” The initial rollout of the adult son was somewhat rocky, which is understandable, considering how closely it resembled a publicity stunt: Erin Gaetz was goaded into releasing several family photographs as proof the adopted son was, indeed, a member of the Gaetz family. Even unlikely ally Katie Hill got involved to defend Gaetz’s fatherly credentials.
On Twitter, Galban, who once apparently worked as a page in the House of Representatives and whose relationship to Gaetz has been carefully guarded from public view for the last six years, noted that “I wanted as a secret before because I wanted to have a normal life without any of y’all getting in it. But now I’m 19 and I old enough to handle it.”
Whether Galban is old enough to understand the implication of trading his longstanding privacy to be used as a human dunk on the Dems remains unclear.
Oklahoma Congressional candidate, minister, and patriotic painter (!) Shelli Landon has a campaign ad out that I recommend you watch in its entirety:
Planned Parenthood is in revolt: In a letter sent to the organization’s board today, current and former Planned Parenthood of New York employees have expressed “our profound lack of confidence in Laura McQuade, our Chief Officers, and our Board of Directors,” citing financial mismanagement, abusive behavior, and racism, among other issues. In a separate letter, a collective of BIPOC employees also criticized Planned Parenthood of New York, saying leaders “gaslit and silenced their marginalized staff.” The letters call for an immediate removal of Laura McQuade and a “thorough, independent investigation” into “allegations of abuse and financial malfeasance.” [The New Republic]
- The Trump campaign is desperately fighting to schedule as many debates with Joe Biden as possible, possibly because God hates us all. [The Hill]
- Gavin Newsom has mandated masks for Californians statewide. [LA Times]
- Protests in some smaller towns are attracting armed militias, who claim to be defending their own communities but are reportedly … agitating from outside. [Washington Post]
- Elizabeth Warren has written a strongly worded letter to Vice President Mike Pence, thank God. [NBC News]
- The Supreme Court did not agree with Trump, so now he would like a new one, please. [Bloomberg]