MAGA extremist Matt Gaetz has a new face

Matt Gaetz, 42, could have become Donald Trump’s Justice Minister if his sexual escapades had not resurfaced. Now a former Republican deputy, he has become a presenter on an American far-right channel. But his new face has taken over all the space.

It’s important the first few times. Especially when it’s a baptism of fire under the cruel onslaught of the spotlight on a television set. Certainly, this is (by far) not the first time that Matt Gaetz has burst onto the air. Only, Thursday evening, on the channel One America News Networkthe most Trumpist of American politicians inaugurated something special. His show. His and only his: “The Matt Gaetz Show.”

One America News Network (OANN, for short) is a much more right-wing information channel than Fox News and as much a fan of Donald Trump as Donald Trump himself. No wonder the guard dog of the 47th President of the United States would feel right at home there. While he should have become head of Justice if his sexual escapades – particularly with minors if we are to believe the Congressional report – had not resurfaced, the former Florida congressman had to bounce back.

Alas, the first thing that looked very bouncy on Thursday night was… her face. To the point that no one was able to focus on the substance of their first show.

Matt Gaetz before (bottom) and after (top).

On social networks, instead of debating the theme of this “Matt Gaetz Show”, in this case the war which agitates the Republicans of Congress over the vote for the presidency of the House, the MAGA and anti-MAGA have focused on the presenter’s face.

“You need to fire your makeup artist immediately,” exclaimed Savanah Hernandez, a far-right political commentator. For others, it’s a failure a bit more definitive than that: “Matt Gaetz is on television at the moment with fresh Botox, it seems,” laughs another Internet user. One thing is certain, no one had the courage to listen to what the new Pascal Praud of the MAGA clan had to tell us this Thursday evening.

It must be said that Matt Gaetz has a tumultuous relationship with his image. Last July, during the Republican convention, he already appeared with a crude update of his face, particularly tense, pointed and shiny.

The subject is so recurrent that the magazine Esquire had decided to call a dermatologist specializing in Botox, just to analyze his features in depth. For Dr. Corey L. Hartman, there is no doubt that there is “too much product on the forehead and not enough sideways to avoid Spock’s eye.” Not to mention, “glabellar injections use an older technique that pushes the eyebrow down and makes it look more menacing than usual.”

Matt Gaetz, last July.

The face of anger

The former Florida congressman nevertheless mentioned a subject at least as hot as the spotlights focused on his new (small) eyes: the election of the president of the House of Representatives. Friday evening, Republican Mike Johnson must be re-elected if the United States does not want to experience new chaos in Congress. While Donald Trump finally supported him publicly, just to calm things down and bank on the slim majority of Republicans. In vain.

At the Capitol, a large group of conservatives would do anything not to vote for Mike Johnson. And, some, to the point of torture, like Kentucky Representative Thomas Massie, who spoke precisely on the “Matt Gaetz Show” Thursday evening.

Botox or not, if Mike Johnson is not re-elected as Speaker of the House in the first round Friday night, it will be “a significant obstacle not only to the passage of bills, but also to staffing and the organization of commissions,” said an official from the Republican Party in Daily Beast.

And it’s much more serious than a makeup glitch.

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