Matt Gaetz Livid Over Reports Of His COVID-19 Status

Matt Gaetz is lashing out at reporters who have covered his COVID-19 status, claiming that they’re lying, but simultaneously admitting that the reports are true.

Gaetz reportedly told several people within the White House and Capitol Hill that he had contracted COVID-19. As could be expected, this soon made it into news reports. Gaetz then lashed out on Twitter, in many tweets, calling reporters liars.

Update: What Politico told its readers wasn’t true. https://t.co/VzrOPcL0Io

— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) November 7, 2020

You are fake news.

What people Jake?

The media has turned lying into an art form. And they rarely get called on their bullshit. https://t.co/Er6Wd6kD2Z

— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) November 7, 2020

This is false. https://t.co/RypVyM5lfI

— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) November 7, 2020

However, discrediting the media by saying something and then playing a semantics game, nitpicking a detail, and calling it a “lie” has become a GOP art form, and while Gaetz’ tweets suggested that he had never said any such thing, he also admitted the central fact was true. (Note that Gaetz never directly denies telling anyone this; he just drops vague hints that attempt to discredit the sources.)

This story is false.

I have the antibodies, not the virus.

Politico DC is barely journalism. https://t.co/QuyeZooq7P

— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) November 7, 2020

This is false.

You are a terrible journalist without a single source.

I have the antibodies, not the virus.

Zero symptoms. https://t.co/Dzwu2MTk1a

— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) November 7, 2020

“I have the antibodies, not the virus.”

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If Gaetz has the antibodies for the virus, unless he was, like the president, injected with antibodies, which he isn’t claiming at all, he likely did contract the virus at some point.

Politico is trying to mislead ppl into thinking I have a recent diagnosis for the virus.

Obviously, if I have antibodies I was exposed at some point, as many have been.

I have no symptoms & am keeping my regular schedule.

Was on @hannity last night and @stevehiltonx tomorrow https://t.co/ESR35gLlwJ

— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) November 7, 2020

Gaetz claims that the media is trying to mislead readers into thinking he currently has COVID-19, but the Politico article he’s citing didn’t say that at all — it said he had told people he had contracted the virus. That’s a bit hard to prove or disprove without revealing sources, but when Gaetz admits he’s tested positive for the antibodies, he confirms two things: that he likely contracted the virus at some point, and that he had some reason to go through antibody testing.

If all Americans took an antibody test I bet we would see higher than anticipated prevalence of them.

— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) November 7, 2020

Gaetz says that if all Americans underwent antibody testing (oh! if only the current administration had worked to make it accessible to all, instead of deliberately slowing down testing to minimize case numbers!) a lot would probably have them.

This could be true — after all, it’s clear that some cases are asymptomatic. It’s possible that Gaetz was one of these cases. Fortunately, our legislators have had access, much more so than the average American, to regular testing. If Gaetz, for example, contracted COVID-19 but had no symptoms, he’d have the opportunity to know it, and avoid spreading it by working remotely, if he so chose.