Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) does not have the best of reputations when it comes to racism, antisemitism, and allegations of far-right extremism.
Gaetz also has a fair number of skeletons in his closet, so he needs to make sure that the staffers working on his television show are squeaky clean.
That was not the case for Gaetz's producer, Vish Burra, who was just forced to resign after some rather nasty online posts were exposed for what critics said was blatant antisemitism.
Gaetz was Donald Trump’s first choice for attorney general ahead of his second term, but I honestly never really thought (or should I say hoped) the pick was a serious one.
At the time, Gaetz was facing salacious allegations in the House, and the AG nomination and a subsequent resignation from Congress seemed to be Gaetz’s best chance to avoid the wrath of the House Ethics Committee.
With all the furor that was raised in the wake of the nomination, Gaetz wound up withdrawing his name from consideration and then announced that he had no intention of returning to Congress.
He stated, “I’m still going to be in the fight, but it’s going to be from a new perch. I do not intend to join the 119th Congress.”
Gaetz has more than his fair share of issues while in Congress in terms of alleged associations with the far right.
For instance, he once invited Charles C. Johnson, a Holocaust denier, to a State of the Union Address.
Gaetz claimed that Johnson had just “shown up” at his office and requested to attend, but Democrats and the media pounced on the narrative.
The then-lawmaker later denied the unflattering characterization of Johnson, stating that he was “not a Holocaust denier, he’s not a white supremacist.”
After leaving Congress and withdrawing his name from attorney general consideration, Gaetz moved over to One America News Network (OANN) to host The Matt Gaetz Show, where he has been ever since.
His producer, Burra, previously posted an AI-made cartoon that depicted Jews as scheming cockroaches and labeled them “vermin” on social media. The post was deleted, but the internet is forever, and Gaetz was quickly called out for the cartoon.
OANN called the post “highly offensive” and “antisemitic,” and Burra was terminated. Gaetz also responded, posting, “My producer Vish Burra posted something dumb this week. He knew it was dumb and quickly deleted it. I too have posted dumb things on social media without thinking – some I’ve deleted, some I haven’t. And I’ve had to pay some consequences along the way. Vish will too. I’m not the internet hall monitor of any of my coworkers (thankfully.).”
Gaetz knows Burra far better than I do, but after having posted what he did, I think Gaetz should have completely distanced himself rather than making what sounds like an excuse for such an offensive expression. Conservatives are constantly being labeled on this front, and they need to put up a strong front to fight off such allegations. If Burra posted the cartoon at issue, he clearly has a belief about Jewish people that cannot be tolerated. Gaetz should not have been so delicate, in my opinion.
