California Venue Cancels America First Rally After Learning Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene are Speakers: ‘Just Want to Stay Clear of That’

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A venue in Southern California canceled an America First rally scheduled for July 17 once it found out the two main speakers would be Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA).

The general manager of Pacific Hills Banquet & Event Center in Laguna Hills, Jared Mirtavoosi, told the Orange County Register that they wanted to “stay clear” of the controversial lawmakers.

“We just want to stay clear of that,” he said. “As soon as we found out who the speakers were we immediately canceled it.”

He noted that when the event was booked, they were just expecting a “gathering.”

A spokesperson for Greene disputed the venue’s account, telling Insider that “the accounting of the venue cancellation is totally inaccurate” and that they are “very close” to securing a different location.

Gaetz and Greene have been holding America First rallies across the country since May. TIME described the tour in May as “a mission to recreate the magic of the Trump era.”

However, the pair have been embroiled in their own scandals recently — causing some people, including fellow Republicans, to distance themselves.

Greene has come under bipartisan fire for comments she made comparing vaccination cards to Nazi-forced Jewish badges and labeling Democrats as Nazis. Gaetz, on the other hand, currently under investigation by the FBI over allegations of sex trafficking.

Mirtavoosi declined to say whether political differences or backlash prompted the cancellation saying, “We just thought it would be best for our facility to cancel.”