Posted on 03/31/2021 7:03:07 AM PDT by RandFan
Tucker Carlson on Tuesday called his interview of Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) one of the oddest in his career after inviting the congressman on his show to discuss an investigation he is facing for an alleged sexual relationship with a 17-year-old.
“If you just saw our Matt Gaetz interview, that was one of the weirdest interviews I have ever conducted,” Carlson said to his viewers after the segment on his Fox News show “Tucker Carlson Tonight.”
On Tuesday news broke that the Department of Justice was investigating whether Gaetz “had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old and paid for her to travel with him,” three sources briefed on the probe told The New York Times.
Gaetz, in an Axios story later that day, denied the allegations but confirmed that he was under investigation.
Gaetz said that the accusations were part of an “extortion effort against my family for $25 million ... in exchange for making this case go away.”
He repeated those allegations on Carlson’s show.
“I know that there was a demand for money in exchange for a commitment that he could make this investigation go away along with his co-conspirators,” Gaetz told Carlson.
“They even claimed to have specific connections inside the Biden White House,” he added. “Now, I don’t know if that’s true. They were promising that Joe Biden would pardon me. Obviously, I don’t need a pardon. I’m not seeking a pardon. I have not done anything improper or wrong.”
Gaetz suggested the extortion plot could be tied to attempts to damage him politically, pointing to the fact that after news of the investigation broke, Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) asked that Gaetz be suspended from the House Judiciary Committee.
“But what I am troubled by is the real motivation for all of this,” Gaetz said to Carlson. “You know, just tonight, Ted Lieu, a Democrat, was calling on me to be removed from the House Judiciary Committee. I believe we are in an era of our politics now, Tucker, where people are smeared to try to take them out of the conversation.”
Gaetz told Carlson there have been similar attempts to use law enforcement to intimidate him, something he said the host should be aware of since it came up while Carlson and Gaetz were at dinner together once.
“I can say that actually, you and I went to dinner about two years ago, your wife was there, and I brought a friend of mine, you will remember her,” Gaetz said. “And she was actually threatened by the FBI, told that if she wouldn’t cop to the fact that somehow I was involved in some pay-for-play scheme that she could face trouble. And so I do believe that there are people at the Department of Justice who are trying to smear me.”
Carlson said he had no recollection of that event.
“I don’t remember the woman you are speaking of or the context at all, honestly,” Carlson said.
It was clear, after the segment ended, that Carlson was nonplussed by the interview he had just conducted.
“That story just appeared in the news a couple of hours ago, and on the certainty that there is always more than you read in the newspaper, we immediately called Matt Gaetz and asked him to come on and tell us more, which, as you saw, he did,” Carlson said about the interview. “I don’t think that clarified much, but it certainly showed this is a deeply interesting story, and we will be following it. Don’t quite understand it, but we will bring you more when we find out.”
Gaetz’s public statements about extortion on Carlson’s show and elsewhere may only make things worse for him, said one of the New York Times reporters who broke the story.
“You would think that he would be wanting to work with the FBI and you would think he would want to keep this quiet,” Katie Benner, who covers the Justice Department for the Times, said in an appearance on “The Rachel Maddow Show.”
“So you have to put this all into context and say that in doing this and basically blowing up an FBI investigation into people trying to extort his family, you know, he has both complicated that investigation and also cast aspersions on something that was serious enough that Attorney General [William] Barr approved it," Benner added.
Gaetz has been very effective in resisting the Alinsky Commisariat.
They have to take him out or GTFO of town.
The media is out to destroy any white, conservative, Christian that dares speak out about anything.
CNN, MSNBC, et. al are not looking out for anyone but themselves, and gain money and power for the left when they keep us divided.
Frankly, I don’t really CARE if he was seeing a 17 year old girl. Plenty of 17 year olds claim to be (and look) 25. Now, if he was taking her to high school dances....
People here run hot and cold over Carlson. I always keep in mind he works for FOX News, so when push comes to shove, he’ll tow the Deep State “company” line if he wants to keep his job!
Is that still a crime?
Sounds like Tucker didn’t believe him.
Traditionally, throughout human history, seventeen was the average age for a girl to marry.
As I recall, Tucker began his career as a writer for National Review. I think he was a moderate conservative back then. Then he got the TV gig, and suddenly he skewed hard right.
Oops. Weekly Standard, according to Wikipedia.
It is amazing how many of us have a first reaction of withdrawing support from one of our fighters.
When are we going to learn that this is a wrong reaction?
Does it matter if it’s true? In fact, right now, as fodder for our first reaction, no.
The right reaction right now is simply to attack the accusers.
Christians here will understand that personally none of us are above reproach, including our leader-fighters.
So if we have to be above reproach personally, our only choice is surrender. To evil.
Isn’t surrendering for temporary personal safety and a temporary sense of self-righteousness (which is by the wa false) about the worst thing you can do?
Twas my impression. too.
After Fox called Arizona for Biden, I added Newsmax to my cable lineup and started watching Stinchfield instead of Tuckie, but in recent weeks, I've drifted back to Tuckie. Looks like it's time to go back to Stinchfield.
Barr approved it?
That speaks volumes in Gaetz' defense.
What I would say is from that I’ve seen of Rep. Gaetz I find it hard to believe he would do anything inappropriate or lie, etc. and considering where the allegations are coming from you have to be suspicious that they’re trying to destroy a fine public servant..
Age on consent is 18 in Fla
Asking for a friend.
You must not have daughters. I would be tempted to shoot any SOB who slept with my teenage daughter, let alone take her out of state on a “vacation”.
If this story is true, he had no intention of marrying her. Any man his age who sleeps with a teenage girl is using her for sex.
After you shoot them I’d put a bullet of my own into their brains just for good measure.
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