Matt Gaetz Goes From Congressman to Failed Attorney General Pick to Cameo Star
He’s offering personalized videos for more than $500, following the trend of politicians like George Santos.
Former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz is already working on his next career move since bowing out of the nomination process for Attorney General — recording personalized video messages on Cameo for big bucks.
Just one day after withdrawing his name for the high-level position in President Trump’s new cabinet, an account with his name popped up on the app, which users can commission celebrities and other people of note for personalized well-wishes like birthday greetings or congratulations for getting a promotion at work, according to Politico.
“I served in Congress. Trump nominated me to be US Attorney General (that didn’t work out). Once I fired the House Speaker,” reads a brief bio on his profile page.
Mr. Gaetz appears to be charging more than $500 to receive a brief video message. Topic options include: “say happy birthday,” “ask a question,” and “receive a pep talk,” and those looking for enlightenment can select to “get advice” from the politician.
The former House representative Congressman Matt Gaetz withdrew from consideration to be President-elect Trump’s attorney general after being asked by CNN about additional sexual assault allegations against a minor. The former congressman said Thursday that he did not want to be a “distraction.”
“While the momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition,” Mr. Gaetz wrote on X on Thursday. “There is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle, thus I’ll be withdrawing my name from consideration to serve as Attorney General.”
Shortly after he was nominated, Mr. Gaetz resigned from the 118th Congress, thus giving him some cover to avoid the release of the Ethics Committee’s looming report. He can return to Congress for the 119th session, which begins on January 3, 2025, as he was reelected by voters in Florida’s first district in November.
Mr. Gaetz is not the first member of Congress to cash in on their notoriety after leaving their position amidst scandal.
Former New York Congressman George Santos signed up for Cameo in December, just three days after he was ousted from the House of Representatives. He quickly sold out of his initial limit of 150 videos at $75 each, according to CBS News. He then rapidly increased his prices to $400 per video. Mr. Santos claimed that he made more money creating the messages than he did from his congressional salary of $174,000.
“I will have made more money in seven days than I would have made an entire year in Congress,” he said.