Bill Maher Asks Matt Gaetz Point-Blank If He Had Sex With an ‘Underage Girl’ While in Congress
Bill Maher pressed former GOP congressman and attorney general nominee Matt Gaetz as to whether he’d ever engaged in sex with an “underage girl” on his podcast Sunday.
Gaetz joined Maher’s Club Random show weeks after dropping his name from consideration to run the US Justice Department and quitting the House. Gaetz has since launched a show on the conservative network One America News.
On Maher’s podcast, Gaetz answered questions about topics ranging from masturbation to his loathing of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. About 30 minutes into the 68-minute podcast, Maher finally asked Gaetz about allegations he paid prostitutes and committed statutory rape.
Gaetz was accused of doing both by witnesses who spoke to the House Ethics Committee. Gaetz disputed the claims and noted he was never charged with a crime. He answered questions about his scandalous exit from Congress while speaking to Maher.
Maher said, “So, people want to know two basic things. One, was he ever with an underage girl?”
Gaetz fired back, “No.”
Maher said he was inclined to believe Gaetz, given former President Joe Biden’s Justice Department would have charged the Florida Republican, he said:
Okay. I know you said that. And if the Justice Department had any evidence – and again, if people are going to attack me – I’m not defending Matt Gaetz. I’m telling the truth as to what it is. And if you don’t want to hear the truth, you’re the hack. The Justice Department, this is Biden’s Justice Department declined. I can’t believe Biden’s Justice Department wouldn’t have wanted to get you if there was something. So, the fact that they said we got nothing tells me something, that they had nothing.
Maher then asked Gaetz if he ever hired prostitutes and read text messages made public about the inquiry into the latter’s personal life. Gaetz denied ever paying for sex.
Later in the interview, Maher noted the House committee noted in its report two women aged 25 and 27 said they had romantic relationships with Gaetz that neither considered “transactional.”
Gaetz sarcastically replied, “It sounded scandalous. Me dating a 25-year-old woman and a 27-year-old woman and having a non-transactional relationship.”
He also suggested McCarthy was behind the release of the report, which Maher said would not have traditionally been released since it came out after Gaetz resigned from his seat.
“I have a lot of enemies on the Republican side,” Gaetz said while referring to McCarthy as a “golden goose” he “killed” when he tanked his speakership.
He concluded, “Kevin McCarthy raised a billion dollars in special interest money and distributed that among a couple hundred Republicans. That makes you a lot of fucking friends.”
Watch above via Club Random w/ Bill Maher.
