Do My Eyes Deceive Me or Is Matt Gaetz Being Primaried? [View all]

Story by Charles P. Pierce • 14h • 2 min read

This may or may not be more evidence that the Trumpian fever is passing slowly from American conservatism, leaving only the underlying prion disease as the source of public derangement. We’ve already seen vivid indications that Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene has lost a considerable portion of her dark mojo, having fought, and thus far lost, a showdown with Speaker Mike Johnson, who is no bargain himself. Now it appears at least some of it is dissipating. From The Hill:

Aaron Dimmock filed to run as a Republican in Gaetz’s district last Friday, the qualifying deadline for federal and judicial candidates in the Sunshine State. Dimmock is the only Republican challenger against Gaetz this election cycle and will face off with the incumbent in Florida’s Aug. 20 primary. He is a former naval aviator, the Pensacola News Journal reported, and appears to have recently served as the director of the Missouri Leadership Academy in Missouri, according to his apparent LinkedIn profile.

In his district, Matt Gaetz is a formidable political nepo baby. His grandfather, Jerry Gaetz, was a prominent Republican in North Dakota who collapsed and died giving a speech in support of Barry Goldwater in 1964. Matt’s father, Don Gaetz, is a state senator from northwest Florida and at one time was the president of the Florida Senate. In an ironic twist in his son’s political devolution, Gaetz the Elder once called for the investigation of the vice-principal at a local high school for pushing religious extremism. However, upon hearing that he would have to contest a primary, young Matt leaped immediately into his profitable political persona, and in its rankest form.

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