Mike Pence’s chief of staff: ‘Matt Gaetz should be in prison for sex trafficking’

A top aide for former Vice President Mike Pence took a swipe at Florida GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz during a recent CNN segment, saying that the lawmaker could be heading to prison soon thanks to a a federal investigation regarding on child-sex-trafficking allegations against him.

As Business Insider points out, the swipe is a sign of a growing rift in the GOP between Pence supporters and those loyal to former President Donald Trump.

On Sunday night during a speech at a Turning Point USA event, Gaetz said, “Our America is proudly ultra-MAGA. … Let me just say what everyone here knows: Mike Pence will never be president.”

Speaking on CNN this Monday, Pence’s former chief of staff Marc Short said, “I don’t know if Mike Pence will run for president in 2024, but I don’t think Matt Gaetz will have an impact on that — in fact, I’d be surprised if he’s still voting.”

“It’s more likely that he’ll be in prison for child sex trafficking by 2024, and I’m actually surprised that Florida law enforcement still allows him to speak to teenage conferences like that,” Short added.

In a statement to Insider, a Gaetz spokesperson said, “Marc can repeat debunked conspiracies on CNN, but nobody can deny that dunking on Pence was Gaetz’s best applause line of an epic speech.”

Watch the video below:

Sky Palma

Before launching DeadState back in 2012, Sky Palma has been blogging about politics, social issues and religion for over a decade. He lives in Los Angeles and also enjoys Brazilian jiu jitsu, chess, music and art.