WASHINGTON – Compared with most congressional newbies, it didn't take Rep. Matt Gaetz long. Phone calls from the president.
Rides aboard Air Force One. Hundreds of television appearances. A darling in conservative circles. Yet barely four years after arriving in Washington as a little-known Republican state legislator from Florida’s panhandle, the 38-year-old unblushing defender of Donald Trump is facing a possible abrupt end to his once promising career because of a federal sex-trafficking investigation.
The overwhelming reaction of Gaetz's GOP colleagues — a deafening silence. That reflects the resentments he's sparked during his breakneck rise as one of the party's celebrities and the challenge he faces to retain his seat.