Alleged sex trafficker Matt Gaetz's bitter feud with former Speaker Kevin
McCarthy ramped up on Friday as the far-right Florida congressman launched
a new ad campaign attacking his challenger in the Aug. 20 Republican
primary.

McCarthy and his allies are reportedly trying to unseat Gaetz as part of
the ex-speaker's "revenge tour" against the eight Republicans who voted to
oust him as leader of the House last fall. Gaetz's campaign told Politico
that it's paying six figures to air its ad over 12 days in the 1st
District, which covers the Pensacola area in Florida's panhandle.

Gaetz's commercial calls his opponent, Navy veteran Aaron Dimmock, a
"raging liberal" who supports Black Lives Matter and diversity, equity, and
inclusion initiatives, which conservatives nationwide have turned into a
favorite punching bag. The ad highlights Donald Trump's endorsement of
Gaetz and claims Dimmock isn't a Floridian as the screen shows a social
media profile that still identified Dimmock as a Missouri resident when
news of his candidacy first broke in April.

Since first winning office in 2016, Gaetz has earned national notoriety for
his extremism as a leading member of the nihilistic House Freedom Caucus,
culminating in his successful push to boot McCarthy for not caving to the
party's furthest-right flank. However, Gaetz has also drawn unsavory
headlines over accusations of wrongdoing that have been in the news
recently.

Just days ago, the House Ethics Committee announced it was reviving its
investigation into allegations that Gaetz had engaged in a wide variety of
wrongdoing, including "sexual misconduct and illicit drug use," accepting
"improper gifts," awarding "special privileges and favors" to associates,
and obstructing investigations into his alleged misdeeds.

However, Gaetz easily turned back a primary challenger in 2022 while under
investigation by the Department of Justice over similar claims. That probe
ended last year without charges, but that result was not wholly good news
for Gaetz. After concluding its work, the DOJ withdrew a request that the
Ethics Committee hold off on its own investigation, allowing the panel to
once again look into the allegations against Gaetz.

McCarthy's allies have targeted several of the Republicans who crossed the
former speaker, but they've had limited success so far. The only one to
lose so far has been Virginia Rep. Bob Good, who chairs the Freedom Caucus
and just barely fell to state Sen. John McGuire this past Tuesday. However,
South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace trounced a well-funded challenger earlier
this month, while McCarthy supporters failed to recruit challengers to
Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs and Tennessee Rep. Tim Burchett.

Two other members, Montana Rep. Matt Rosendale and former Colorado Rep. Ken
Buck, both chose not to seek reelection, though it does not appear that the
threat of payback pushed them out.

Rosendale, for his part, launched a disastrous Senate campaign that lasted
just one week after dithering for months about whether he would run. Buck,
meanwhile, had already alienated many Republicans by rejecting what he
called Trump's "lie that the 2020 election was stolen" and claimed he quit
in frustration over his party's embrace of those fabrications.