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On November 13, just a week after winning reelection, Matt Gaetz noped out of the House of Representatives. In theory, this was so he could go exact revenge from Donald Trump’s enemies as Attorney General. Trump’s biggest backer gushed on his personal social media site that Gaetz had “a big brain, a spine of steel and an axe to grind,” making him the ideal candidate to serve as “our Hammer of Justice.”
But the Hammer had apparently been indiscriminately nailing [cough] everything in sight, and soon his nomination was withdrawn. The debacle did have the salubrious — for Gaetz! — effect of ending a House ethics inquiry which reportedly surfaced testimony that he’d paid multiple women for sex, including one girl who was a minor at the time. This would appear to confirm reporting on Gaetz’s public Venmo history, which included payments to women for “tuition,” “school,” and “ice cream.”
Recently the politician’s career has taken some unexpected turns. He’s headed for a bottom-of-the-barrel conspiracy news channel that got dumped from basic cable, and he may also be running for governor of Florida in 2026.
Gaetz will be joining One America News Network, to host a nightly “news” show with Dan Ball, an anchor whose oeuvre is typified by a hard-hitting broadcast where he made fun of Rep. Alexandra Ocasio Cortez for having a white boyfriend.
Ball’s schtick is to yell incoherently about various culture war issues, which he’ll be doing nightly at 6pm with Gaetz starting in January. His post tagging reporter Chanel Rion would appear to suggest that she’ll be joining them on the show, bringing her signature joie de vivre. Rion is most famous for trailing along after Rudy Giuliani in 2019 as he pratfalled his way through Ukraine looking for evidence of Biden corruption. At one point, Rion claimed that they had narrowly escaped octogenarian philanthropist George Soros, who was leading a squad of goons hellbent on taking them down. Gaetz, who was reprimanded by the Florida Bar for attempted to intimidate Michael Cohen by falsely implying that he’d had an extramarital affair, should fit right in.
But if his broadcast career doesn’t work out, Gaetz appears to have an escape plan. As Forbes reporter Zach Everson noted, the recently registered Florida Firebrand PAC appears to have ties to Gaetz and his staffers. And the panhandle politician has long been rumored to be contemplating a run in Florida’s 2026 gubernatorial campaign.
Tough break that his new show is barely accessible in Florida, huh? Well, to be fair, you can watch it, but you have to pay. No word if the network accepts Venmo.
Liz Dye lives in Baltimore where she produces the Law and Chaos substack and podcast.