For a little over a week, Matt Gaetz topped the list of controversial Donald Trump Cabinet picks due to his lack of relevant experience, alleged sexual misconduct, and generally trollish presence in Congress. Then, on Thursday, he withdrew his name from consideration, saying that while the “momentum was strong” he was “unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition.”
That left Gaetz’s future up in the air. He quickly resigned from Congress after his nomination, blocking the release of a House Ethics Committee report involving allegations that had sex with an underage girl. Appearing on Charlie Kirk’s podcast Friday, Gaetz said he did not intend to join the next Congress. But like many movie villains, he vowed that we haven’t seen the last of him. “I’m still gonna be in the fight, but it’s going to be from a new perch,” he explained.
Now, it appears that new perch is … Cameo? Over the weekend, Gaetz followed in the footsteps of fellow disgraced politicians Rod Blagojevich, George Santos, and Rudy Giuliani by launching a new career on the personalized celebrity-video app. His bio reads: “I served in Congress. Trump nominated me to be US Attorney General (that didn’t work out). Once I fired the House Speaker.”
Gaetz initially charged $250 for each of his videos, which average 90 seconds in length. But, apparently, there is more of a market for videos from scandal-plagued, far-right politicians than he realized; he quickly jacked up the price to $500 a pop.
Gaetz has racked up 13 five-star reviews so far, though from the outside, the videos are nothing remarkable. In several clips, he praises Trump and Pam Bondi, his replacement pick for AG, and reiterates that “I’m still going to be in the fight.”
Matt Gaetz joins Cameo after ending his bid for US Attorney General due to sexual misconduct investigation. pic.twitter.com/bhzD8PihiL
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) November 24, 2024
In another video, Gaetz jokes about his Cameo client being gay (but, like, not in a homophobic way):
What’s up, Chris? This is Matt Gaetz. I know you’re bummed out I’m not going to be taking out the garbage at the Department of Justice. But don’t despair, we’ve got an awesome attorney general coming in, Pam Bondi. And you know what? They can stop one of us but they can’t stop all of us. So we’re going to Make America Great Again. And remember, Peter is gay. And I normally wouldn’t say something like that but there’s an asterisk here that it’s a running joke, we’re not outing anyone. And it was in fact Peter who ordered this cameo for you. So I hope you and Peter are happy.
Presumably, Cameo will not be Gaetz’s sole “perch” going forward. In the next administration, there will surely be lots of overpaid jobs for attention-hungry Trump allies that don’t require Senate confirmation. Still, Gaetz’s ten-day journey from future U.S. attorney general to washed-up former congressman/Cameo star has been something to see.
