Fox News announced Wednesday that it has no interest in hiring Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz to their network.
A Fox News spokesperson issued a statement saying they have no plans to hire Gaetz after the congressman said he is interested in pursuing a career in conservative media, The Daily Beast reported. The New York Times reported Gaetz is under investigation by the Justice Department for an alleged sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl. Gaetz denied wrongdoing and alleged he was the victim of an extortion plot.
“No one with any level of authority has had conversations with Matt Gaetz for any of our platforms and we have no interest in hiring him,” a Fox News spokesperson said, according to The Daily Beast.
Gaetz said he is seriously considering retiring from Congress to begin working for Newsmax, Axios reported Tuesday. He said he had also talked to other major conservative media outlets including Fox News and One America News Network (OANN) about potential job offers.
“There is not a single conservative television station I haven’t had a passing conversation with about life after Congress,” he told The Daily Beast. “I have neither received or solicited offers from any of them.
Just gonna get out front of this and say @mattgaetz we also have no interest in hiring you.https://t.co/3Q0I1X1bCX
— John Iadarola (@johniadarola) April 1, 2021
Gaetz has had roughly 90 minutes of screen time per month on Fox News in the past year, according to The Daily Beast. Fox News host Sean Hannity offered the congressman a position as a guest host on his radio show.
Gaetz told Fox News host and Daily Caller co-founder Tucker Carlson that the allegations against him are false on “Tucker Carlson Tonight” Tuesday.
“The New York Times is running a story that I have traveled with a 17-year-old woman and that is verifiably false,” Gaetz said. “People can look at my travel records and and see that is not the case.” (Related: Rep. Matt Gaetz Says He Is Subject Of Sex Investigation, But Claims He’s The Target Of An ‘Extortion’ Plot)
Robert Herring, founder and CEO of OANN, said he wants Gaetz to remain in Congress and is not interested in hiring him.
“Right now, I’m not really hiring anybody for talk shows. I think he is a great congressman, and I told [somebody] to tell him to stay there.”
A Newsmax insider said he “highly doubts” that they will hire Gaetz due to the allegations against him, The Daily Beast reported. One Newsmax spokesperson said the company did not comment on programming plans.
Spokespersons for OANN and Newsmax said there is a possibility of looking past Gaetz’s accusation and pass it off as a conspiracy, The Daily Beast reported.
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