Posted in: Amazon Studios, Opinion, TV, TV | Tagged: Alan Ritchson, Matt Gaetz, opinion, Reacher

Reacher Star Alan Ritchson's Comments Leave Matt Gaetz Confused

Reacher star Alan Ritchson made his feelings known about ex-congressman Matt Gaetz - and now, Gaetz seems to be a bit confused by it all.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:09:08 -0600

by Ray Flook

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Earlier this week, we covered what Reacher star Alan Ritchson had to say about his former classmate, former congressman, and now full-tweeter Matt Gaetz – and let's just say that Ritchson isn't a fan of that "motherfucker" (Ritchson's word). Though born in North Dakota, Ritchson's family moved briefly to Illinois before setting up a home in Niceville, Florida—and that's where Ritchson and Gaetz would end up being classmates together. To say that Ritchson doesn't think too highly of Gaetz would be a righteously serious understatement – and based on Gaetz's response, it appears he doesn't know where the animosity is coming from.

"That motherfucker. We are adversaries. It's shocking to me that the panhandle of Florida continues to vote for somebody—knowing everything we know about him and the promises that he's made behind closed doors about pardoning certain criminals—he's just not a good dude!" Ritchson shared during an interview with GQ. In fact, the entire situation left Ritchson considering running for office. "There's part of me that wants to get into politics to outdo somebody like him for good, and there's part of me that's like, I'm not duplicitous enough to succeed in politics," he revealed. "There are certain people that do a good job of staying true to who they are, but they're ineffective. I think Bernie Sanders is a hero. But it's like, what has he accomplished?"

For some quick perspective, Gaetz represented Florida in the U.S. House of Representatives beginning in 2016, vacating his position after Trump got elected and vowed to nominate Gaetz for U.S. Attorney General – only for Gaetz to drop out of consideration a week later. Though denying the allegations, Gaetz was hit with a House Ethics Committee report that noted there was "substantial evidence" that Gaetz "violated House Rules and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, impermissible gifts, special favors or privileges, and obstruction of Congress."

Well, it would appear that Gaetz was able to stop fanning himself and clutching his pearls long enough to respond. "Hollywood apparently changes people!" Gaetz began his response, which would include a combination of anecdotes that don't really prove anything and just enough passive-aggressive snarkiness to remind us that it's Gaetz. "Alan was a year behind me in high school and we were both on the Speech and Debate Team. We were not 'adversaries' as I won debate championships, and Alan did more acting stuff. As I recall, his older brother Eric won more often than Alan did. He was always very nice to me (and everyone), and his mother, the computer lab monitor, loved me. At her invitation, I even went to his dad's retirement party from the Air Force. It was held at a karaoke bar called 'lewbos' in Niceville where his dad sang 'sittin on the dock of the bay.' I sang 'centerfold.'"

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