It was a bad night for Trump superfans. An already crazy Tuesday came to a surreal close, first with news that far right social media troll and piss poor serial liar Jacob Wohl had been permanently banned from Twitter after bragging to a USA Today reporter about creating fake Twitter accounts to disrupt the 2020 election. Around the same time a key Trump ally — one Florida representative Matt Gaetz — sent out what appeared to be a cryptic threat to the president’s former lawyer Michael Cohen.
Cohen is scheduled to testify on Capital Hill beginning Wednesday; he’s reportedly planning to offer documentation proving the commander-in-chief engaged in criminal conduct involving a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels, with whom the president slept. In the late afternoon, less than 24 hours before Cohen’s appearance, the relatively little-known Gaetz decided to become an instant viral sensation.
https://twitter.com/mattgaetz/status/1100503846386835456
“Hey @MichaelCohen,” Gaetz tweeted. “Do your wife & father-in-law know about your girlfriends? Maybe tonight would be a good time for that chat. I wonder if she’ll remain faithful when you’re in prison. She’s about to learn a lot…”
Gaetz offered no proof that he has evidence of Cohen’s extramarital affairs, and when asked by reporters to explain his tweet, he asserted that it wasn’t intended as a threat. He also insisted he wasn’t engaging in witness-tampering” so much as, in his words, “witness-testing.”
Question: "Congressman, does your tweet amount to witness tampering?:"
Rep. Matt Gaetz: "Absolutely not. It's witness testing." https://t.co/pcUAzlfvZq pic.twitter.com/QUpwIIhNHa
— The Hill (@thehill) February 27, 2019
One would assume social media gadlfies were a little busy pouncing on Jacob Wohl, but it turns out they can multi-task. Twitter became a duel which one would get the most amount of jokes.
Twitter: Jacob Wohl is banned
Also twitter: Oh no! Now we have a huge douchebag shortage.
Matt Gaetz: No, you don’t.— Adam Parkhomenko (@AdamParkhomenko) February 26, 2019
https://twitter.com/ManInTheHoody/status/1100528803640573952
I see that Matt Gaetz went to the Jacob Wohl school of Twitter.
— Tony Posnanski (@tonyposnanski) February 26, 2019
Others, though, compared Gaetz to another Floridian.
Us: No Florida Republican will tweet anything as stupid as Marco Rubio did
Matt Gaetz: Hold my beer bong https://t.co/jU3esB415B
— Adam Best (@adamcbest) February 26, 2019
Professional number cruncher Nate Silver congratulated the congressman on his starmaking moment.
For a fairly long time I thought Congressman Matt Gaetz was one of those parody twitter accounts like @RepStevenSmith that was a little too deadpan/on the nose.
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) February 26, 2019
Others reveled in his rank stupidity.
I guess the reason top Trump ally Matt Gaetz criminally tampered with Michael Cohen tonight is because Cohen has NOTHING on Trump and is just a LIAR
🧐
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) February 26, 2019
If you think Matt Gaetz is a creation unique to the Trump era, you haven’t been paying attention to the escalating stupidity of Republican politics for the last decade
— Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) February 26, 2019
Matt Gaetz should, at a bare minimum, be censured.
If Republicans had *any* integrity, they'd be calling for his resignation. Today.
— Jennifer Hayden (@Scout_Finch) February 26, 2019
Matt Gaetz is the human version of an unsolicited dick pic
— Ellen Kurz (@EllenKurz) February 26, 2019
Speaking of stupidity, Gaetz went and repeated his claim on the House floor.
Like an hour ago on MSNBC some lawyer said "well, if he didn't say it on the House floor there's not much that can be done" and then Matt Gaetz went out and did the damn thing https://t.co/2l4OAhxInf
— Andrew Lawrence (@ndrew_lawrence) February 27, 2019
Or maybe it’s not funny. Maybe it reminds us that the entire Trump cabal is a bunch of thugs and gangsters and autocrats.
https://twitter.com/owillis/status/1100518298515632129
When you elect Tony Soprano, he comes with the afternoon regulars at the Bada Bing. https://t.co/byddVop4FP
— Stuart Stevens (@stuartpstevens) February 27, 2019
Led by Trump crime family boss Donald Trump, with the complicity of Matt Gaetz, Mitch McConnell and the entire congressional Republican caucus, the GOP has descended into a party of thugs, bullies, liars, cheaters and cowards, unworthy of holding power in a democracy. pic.twitter.com/J7GiKUKMCf
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) February 26, 2019
Matt Gaetz is an essential part of the GOP’s disinformation human centipede.
— Adam Best (@adamcbest) February 26, 2019
If Congressman Matt Gaetz and President Donald Trump can openly commit felony witness tampering to “prevent the attendance or testimony of any person in an official proceeding” with zero consequences because they’re public officials, then we live in a corrupt third world country.
— Eugene Gu, MD (@eugenegu) February 27, 2019
In an organized crime family, the mobsters aren’t loyal to the capo out of love and affection, they do his bidding out of fear. What is Gaetz afraid of? – GOP lawmaker appears to threaten Cohen on eve of public hearing https://t.co/Ut6chB2qAU @MSNBC
— Frank Figliuzzi (@FrankFigliuzzi1) February 27, 2019
Witness intimidation is a federal crime.
Lock him up.https://t.co/Hp3vFSS8CI via @usatoday— Richard W. Painter (@RWPUSA) February 27, 2019
In any case, Gaetz is also a hypocrite.
This Matt Gaetz tweet from 4 days ago did not age well. #BeBest pic.twitter.com/ylYnMvMOR6
— Matt (@nosoupforgeorge) February 26, 2019
MATT GAETZ: Cyberbullying is bad
GAETZ 4 DAYS LATER: *Commits one of the most egregious acts of cyberbullying in Twitter history* pic.twitter.com/rBv3ZhLtBV
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 27, 2019
Let us take a moment to pour one out for Media Matters journalist Matt Gertz, whose name is so similar — but, c’mon, not really — that he wound up hounded by Twitter’s least eagle-eyed accounts.
How's everyone else's night going? pic.twitter.com/TyDrEQNCK0
— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) February 27, 2019
And then there was Nancy Pelosi, who gifted Gaetz with a very loud subtweet.
I encourage all Members to be mindful that comments made on social media or in the press can adversely affect the ability of House Committees to obtain the truthful and complete information necessary to fulfill their duties. https://t.co/NDnxkaiFCA pic.twitter.com/DIIgSHgeb5
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) February 26, 2019
(Via CNN and New York Times)