Matt Gaetz has been under investigation by the FBI since late last year, over his alleged connection to a sex trafficking ring. But the Florida representative has been doing what many Republicans do when they’re being probed for criminal activity: ignore and distract. On Wednesday, a rally was head in downtown Los Angeles for the #FreeBritney movement, which seeks to end pop icon Britney Spears’ restrictive conservatorship, which is run in part by her father. And guess who randomly showed up to make a fiery speech?
‘Britney's been abused by the media, she's been abused by her grifter father and she has been abused by the American justice system,’ Congressman Matt Gaetz said as he joined a #FreeBritney protest outside an L.A. court https://t.co/iESiOsoTWF pic.twitter.com/fwJvwRi72t
— Reuters (@Reuters) July 14, 2021
The Florida lawmaker was there to show passionate support for a person who achieved fame when she was very young. “If this case does not result in freedom for Britney Spears,” Gaetz bellowed to the crowd, “it is a black eye for the American justice system.”
Gaetz declared that Spears — whose conservatorship is so strict that she’s not allowed to remove her IUD, which prevents her from having children — deserves “the freedom and liberty that should be offered to every single American.” He continued:
“She’s been abused by the media. She’s been abused by her grifter father. And she has been abused by the American justice system. And so we need to come together and create a federal cause of action — a federal change in the law that will free Britney and the millions of Americans [presumably referring to those who are also under conservatorships].”
He added, “One thing we can all agree on is that Jamie Spears is a d*ck.”
Preach! But a few people didn’t think Gaetz was the person who should be trying to gain hosannas for sticking up for someone like Britney Spears.
leave britney alone @mattgaetz. and shame on all the stans that let this demon get clout off your actually just movement.
— hasanabi (@hasanthehun) July 14, 2021
Are we forgetting Matt Gaetz allegedly had a sexual relationship with a 17-year old girl? https://t.co/5UNZN0hh73
— Nicholas Hautman (@nickhautman) July 14, 2021
https://twitter.com/B52Malmet/status/1415112752763392000
Matt Gaetz at a Free Britney rally. When it comes to federal crimes, he’s not that innocent. pic.twitter.com/828d2IfSNX
— The Good Liars (@TheGoodLiars) July 14, 2021
https://twitter.com/MingGao26/status/1415432222736326660
Gaetz is one of a handful of GOP lawmakers who’ve tried to get Spears to testify in Washington D.C. (Then again, one of them is Marjorie Taylor Greene.) Whatever his real motives, one wonders if he got the idea to glom onto her plight after getting made fun of three months ago in a Spears-centric SNL sketch.
(Via Variety)