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Congressman Ro Khanna Distances Himself From Scandal-Scarred Trump Loyalist Matt Gaetz

Congressman Ro Khanna Distances Himself From Scandal-Scarred Trump Loyalist Matt Gaetz

  • The two have long been touted as an example of bipartisanship during the Trump era, including  joint media appearances to demonstrate their friendship.

Congressman Ro Khanna has conveniently distanced himself from his embattled Republican colleague Matt Gaetz of Florida. The two have been working across party lines and have also gone on air to speak about their friendship. The Daily Beast, which reported the story on April 5, says “Gaetz and Khanna have long been touted as an example of bipartisanship during the Trump era, with the pair having appeared multiple times together in various media to demonstrate their bond.” 

According to the Daily Beast report, an HBO political documentary – “The Swamp” – which was released last year, showed the two working to block the White House from waging war with Iran. “Over the summer, Khanna publicly called on Gaetz to ‘team up’ to stop an amendment that would prevent a withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan,” the report added. But now that Gaetz has been engulfed in a massive sex scandal, Khanna is detaching himself from his “buddy.” 

Khanna’s last appearance with Gaetz was on March 25 on Fox News where the two boasted about their friendship, despite not agreeing on everything, claiming that they “even hang out.” When host Brian Kilmeade asked Khanna to explain how he likes “this guy,” the California Congressman replied: “We do get along. We work on common issues. We work to get PAC money out of politics. We both believe lobbyists shouldn’t be running this place. We both believe we shouldn’t be in foreign wars.” He said that despite disagreeing on issues, they “actually engage in dialogue. We even hang out.”

However, a few days later, Khanna was singing a different song. 

On April 4, Khanna was asked by Jim Acosta of CNN about his reaction to accusations against Gaetz, and about their friendship. “I’m sure you are horrified by these allegations against your friend,” Acosta asked Khanna. “What do you make of all of this? Does it sound consistent with the Matt Gaetz that you know?”Khanna replied that he was “shocked” and “disturbed” by the allegations. “And I have never had any interactions with Matt Gaetz outside the Capitol,” Khanna said nonchalantly. Adding that he “totally condemns” if he shared any of those pictures with anyone, he said the matter should “be investigated, as the speaker has said, with the ethics department.” He further downplayed his congressional relationship with Gaetz.

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Along with Gaetz, Khanna told Acosta that he’s also partnered “with a lot of Republicans” on those issues before. Asked whether he’s spoken to Gaetz since the scandal broke or whether he’d heard about Gaezt sharing nude photos of women he slept with on the Congress floor, Khanna replied: “It certainly wasn’t knowledge to me,” the California congressman exclaimed. “I don’t know if it was knowledge to others. But I was shocked about it. And I obviously have not talked to him or reached out, nor do I plan to. I mean, the allegations have been pretty shocking.”

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