In what Fox News’ Tucker Carlson called “one of the weirdest” interviews he has “ever conducted,” Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) tried to rope the host into his current sex scandal stemming from allegations of sex trafficking of a minor and exchanging favors for sex.
Hours after Gaetz’s story broke, the Florida representative spoke with Carlson on the air. Gaetz denied having had a relationship with a 17-year-old girl and exchanging gifts or favors for sex. Then, Gaetz said to Carlson that he was “not the only person on screen right now who’s been falsely accused of a terrible sex act.”
Carlson furrowed his brow and said in response, “You just referred to a mentally ill viewer who accused me of a sex crime 20 years ago, and, of course, it was not true. I had never met the person. But I do agree with you that being accused falsely is one of the worst things that can happen, and you do see it a lot.”
Gaetz then pulled Carlson back in, indicating that Carlson had met some of his girlfriends.
“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’ll remember her — 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,” Gaetz told a bewildered Carlson. “So I do believe there are people at the Department of Justice that are trying to smear me. Providing for flights and hotel rooms for people that you’re dating who are of legal age is not a crime.”
“I don’t remember the woman you’re speaking of or the context at all, honestly,” said Carlson, instantly shutting down Gaetz.
After a commercial break, Carlson addressed his audience regarding the Gaetz interview saying, “I don’t think that clarified much … I don’t quite understand it.”
