A.G. Gancarski
U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz urged Florida’s Agriculture Commissioner to “brush up” on her foreign policy Sunday, a coda to a brief Twitter exchange between the Republican Congressman and Democrat Nikki Fried.
“My dear friend, the Agriculture Commissioner, may need a brush up on foreign policy,” the Fort Walton Beach Republican texted Florida Politics Sunday morning in response to a question about the back and forth the day before.
The debate (roughly stated): Have America’s endless foreign wars or the Donald Trump administration been more destructive to the United States’ position?
Responding to a Michael McFaul tweet on Saturday wondering how the President could continue to serve as commander in chief in the wake of reported comments that he called troops “suckers and losers,” Gaetz noted that Trump, unlike many of his immediate predecessors, has avoided launching new military adventures.
Gaetz said Trump “is the first POTUS since [Ronald] Reagan not to start a new war. Many in the Pentagon, Congress & military-industrial complex hate him for it. They use endless wars to drive profit as we spill the blood of our best patriots. Trump honors troops by honoring their lives.”
Fried, a South Florida Democrat, sidestepped Gaetz’s formulation about “endless wars” to make a larger point about what she perceives to be the President’s destabilizing influence on the domestic front.
“How about the war Donald Trump has started on American soil in our communities? His war will be more costly and attempts to destroy what our troops have fought for.”
The Commissioner used two hashtags, “#wagthedog” and “#ourbrandiscrisis,” to denote that Gaetz, in her view, is distracting from the larger point.
The Gaetz/Fried sparring is relatively new and, despite the shared affinity of the two for cannabis reform, unsurprising in this context.
The Congressman is a staunch advocate of Trump and his reelection, and Fried has likewise been an enthusiastic advocate for Joe Biden.
Each spoke at their party’s respective nominating conventions last month. Gaetz gave a solo speech at the Republican National Convention. Fried was part of a group oration at the Democratic event.
12 comments
Sonja Fitch
September 5, 2020 at 3:45 pm
Without a shadow of doubt the goptrump cult is the most destructive ever! Vote Blue!
Nick Whitehead
September 6, 2020 at 1:26 am
As a resident of the Florida panhandle, please allow me to apologize for the loud-mouth embarrassment that has escaped containment in his father’s crime syndicate and is not satisfied until he sees himself on television saying some kind of completely fantastical, bat shit crazy nonsense. BTW, even we in the panhandle know that Obama didn’t start any wars. Again, we are really, really sorry.
geraniunumgirl55
September 6, 2020 at 8:42 am
At least you have an option on Nov 3. Looks like we’re stuck with Dr. Dunn here in the 2nd CD for another 2 years. Yet again I will be writing in “fence post”
history fan
September 6, 2020 at 9:46 am
Gaetz said Trump “is the first POTUS since [Ronald] Reagan not to start a new war.”
Reagan did have a war… He invaded Grenada in 1983. Look it up. A pretty funny tale in many ways.
Tjb
September 6, 2020 at 12:54 pm
Little men, such as Gaetz, are afraid of strong and intelligent women such as Nikki. He is a follower and not a leader.
Palmer Tom
September 6, 2020 at 11:52 pm
How about asking Gaetz to brush up on diplomacy?
Ken Willey
September 7, 2020 at 2:19 am
For once I have to agree with Gaetz. Despite the efforts of Bolton, Pompeo, and other neocons he has refrained from getting us into a new war. He has exposed the Democrats as just another wing of his War Party.
Edward Freeman
September 7, 2020 at 3:10 am
Trump would have gotten us into any war Putin told him to get us in, but it wasn’t in Putin’s interest for the US to get into a war during Trump’s first term. Putin knew that even with Russia cheating and Republican voter suppression for Trump, he could never get Trump elected to a second term if the US was in another war. Trump is too valuable an asset for Russia to risk that. It looks like it may not matter in the end, Putin overestimated Trump’s competence.
Ken Willey
September 7, 2020 at 11:53 am
Trump Derangement Syndrome is real.
Edward Freeman
September 8, 2020 at 9:25 pm
Umm, well almost everyone who had left the Trump Administration says that the President is beholden to Putin and we all saw him kiss ass in Helsinki, but you can keep believing the liar in the White House if you want to be that dumb.
Ken Willey
September 9, 2020 at 12:02 am
I’m going to call BS on that claim.
Joe Fatala
September 9, 2020 at 6:56 pm
Way to go Matty. Have a drink …..or two…….or four.
Comments are closed.