Matt Gaetz Has New Republican Feud

Representative Matt Gaetz has a new Republican enemy in Senator Markwayne Mullin.

Gaetz criticized Mullin for profiting off stocks while serving as a member of Congress this week, renewing his long-held position against lawmakers trading stocks.

Retweeting a post on X, formerly Twitter, from Quiver Quantitative that found Mullin increased his net worth by $51 million between 2018 when he was a congressman, and 2022, when he was elected to the Senate, Gaetz said Wednesday, "We should pass a ban on trading stocks!"

Things escalated between the two Republicans when Mullin called Gaetz out for his comments publicly, writing on X, "I hear @RepMattGaetz has criticism of hard-earned success—he should try building a business that gains value, it's more gratifying than living off your daddy's money."

The Florida Republican did not back down, replying to the senator directly on social media.

"The only thing I criticized were your stock trades while a member of congress. I want to ban those trades," Gaetz told Mullin. "You cashed in and made millions."

Gaetz has been vocal about his position on restricting trading and financial investments by members of Congress and their spouses. In May, the conservative firebrand crossed the aisle to join progressive Democrats like Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in introducing the Bipartisan Restoring Faith in Government Act.

"Members of Congress are spending their time trading futures instead of securing the future of our fellow Americans. We cannot allow the Swamp to prioritize investing in stocks over investing in our country," Gaetz said in a press release at the time. "As long as concerns about insider trading hang over the legislative process, Congress will never regain the trust of the American people. Our responsibility in Congress is to serve the people, not hedge bets on the stock market."

Quiver Quantitative, which tracks stock trading within Congress, noted Tuesday that because members of Congress only make $174,000 annually, most of their wealth comes from the stock market. Polls show that the majority of Americans support a ban for lawmakers, with 86 percent of participants saying they favored such a measure in a July survey from the University of Maryland's Program for Public Consultation.

This isn't the first time that Gaetz and Mullin have traded shots. Mullin, an ally of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, ramped up his attacks on Gaetz after the congressman introduced the motion to vacate that ultimately ousted McCarthy from his leadership position.

The Oklahoma Republican made headlines in October when he accused Gaetz of making a lewd remark about South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem's appearance when he first met her. In a Newsmax interview, Mulling put Gaetz on blast, saying he called Noem a "fine b****" when she had been a congresswoman. He also accused Gaetz of joking about having to "sell [his] constituents catheters" before interviews, in reference to the older demographic of his supporters

In another interview with CNN, Mullin claimed that before he got married, Gaetz would send other lawmakers videos of "girls he had slept with" on the House floor and that Gaetz "bragged about how he would crush [erectile dysfunction] medicine and chase it with an energy drink so he could go all night."

In response, Gaetz said that he had not exchanged more than 20 words with the senator, calling Mullin's remarks "a lie from someone who doesn't know me."