U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) was greeted with chants of “USA, USA” and received a standing ovation upon taking the stage at the Timcast IRL summit in Miami on Friday.
Popular conservative podcast host Tim Pool assembled several high-profile guests in Miami for a summit on Friday, including investigative journalist James O’Keefe, podcast host Patrick Bet-David and numerous others. An especially warm ovation was reserved for Rep. Gaetz, however, as the Florida congressman addressed supporters just days after leading the successful effort to oust House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA).
“I made an existential decision that I wasn’t going to own him anymore,” Gaetz told Patrick Bet-David when asked about the motion to vacate the chair. “There was a group of us that was large enough to where if we weren’t going to vote for him, one of two things was gonna happen: the Democrats were gonna own him, or he was not gonna be the speaker anymore.”
“And I was actually okay with either one of those results,” Gaetz continued. “Because either is illuminating and either creates opportunity,” he added, drawing applause from the crowd.
“So, I had no foresight as to how the Democrats were gonna act, I kind