Rep. Matt Gaetz insinuates GOP Rep. Jason Smith is a closeted gay man

Far-right Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) has insinuated that fellow House Republican Jason Smith (R-MO) is a closeted gay man.

Gaetz made the insinuation on a recent installment of his Firebrand podcast. In it, Gaetz replayed Smith’s comments calling Gaetz a “foolish liar” and adding, “If Matt Gaetz’s lips are moving, it’s only lies that’s coming out of it.”

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Smith accused Gaetz of lying about former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) sabotaging the candidacies of several Republican nominees for Speaker. House Republicans nominated three unsuccessful candidates and considered many others for the leadership role after Gaetz and seven other House Republicans voted to eject McCarthy from the speakership in early October. Republicans eventually voted rabidly anti-LGBTQ+ Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) into the position.

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In addition to calling Gaetz a liar, Smith added, “Matt Gaetz is accusing Kevin McCarthy for everything that he’s doing. The blood is on his hands for 22 wasted days for him to join with 100% of the Democrat Party to remove the speaker of the House. He’s all about himself.”

After playing audio of Smith’s “liar” comment on his podcast, Gaetz said, “Jason Smith says if my lips are moving, I’m lying. Well, you know what? If Jason Smith is breathing, he is living a lie. There might not be another member of Congress who lives a lie every day more than Jason Smith. And Jason Smith knows exactly what I’m talking about. And by the way, so does almost every member of the House Republican caucus.”

“So, there’s a good deal of projection in Jason Smith calling me a liar when it’s Jason Smith, who literally has to live a lie. And I honestly pity him for that because you know, it wouldn’t be something that– I wouldn’t live that way,” Gaetz continued. “I’ll just put it that way. So, Jason, I would check yourself before you come at me with any accusations of being dishonest about what I say, when you’re dishonest about how you live and what you do.”

Smith is an unmarried 43-year-old who is chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, a congressional group that reviews and makes recommendations for government budgets. After the Supreme Court’s 2015 legalization of marriage equality, Smith said, “The people, not the courts, should decide the future of marriage in America.” He also co-authored the so-called Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, a bill that would ban transgender athletes from playing on sports teams matching their gender identities.

Smith isn’t the only unmarried Republican bachelor whose sexual orientation has recently come under accusation and scrutiny. Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), a 57-year-old never-married man, recently fought gay rumors by talking about his girlfriend, whom he refused to name.

Gaetz did not support the Equality Act, a federal law that would guarantee nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ+ people, nor did he support the Respect for Marriage Act, a law that requires federal and state governments to recognize same-sex marriages performed in states where it is legal.

After the Supreme Court legalized marriage equality nationwide in 2015, Gaetz said the decision was an example of “judicial activism” that posed “a threat to our democracy.” He has also said that same-sex marriage legalization should be left up to states. There are 31 states that have statutes and constitutional bans on same-sex marriage and/or other types of same-sex unions — these would immediately go into effect if a future Supreme Court were ever to overturn marriage equality.