Politicians’ new scandal playbook
The mere whiff of a scandal once unravelled political careers with stunning speed. Not any more.
Embroiled in a federal sex trafficking investigation, United States politician Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida has denied the allegations, rebuffed suggestions that he resign and sent fundraising appeals that portray him as a victim of a “smear campaign”.
During a high-profile appearance this weekend at former President Donald Trump’s Doral golf club in Miami, he vowed, “I have not yet begun to fight”.
“I’m built for the battle and I’m not going anywhere,” Gaetz said. “The smears against me range from distortions of my personal life to wild — and I mean wild — conspiracy theories.”
The third-term congressman joins a growing list of politicians — almost exclusively men — who are defying the traditional response to controversy. Rather than humbly step back from public life, they barrel ahead, insisting they did nothing wrong and betting that voters will forget alleged misdeeds once the news cycle shifts.
“Clearly this is a new strategy people are employing in crisis response,” said Brent Colburn, a Democratic strategist and veteran of President Barack Obama’s administration. “It is a new chapter in the playbook.”
Gaetz’s political future remains in question and could fully disintegrate, depending on how the federal probe unfolds. But after spending the past several years as one of Trump’s fiercest public defenders, Gaetz’s game plan strongly mirrors the former president’s approach.
After a video emerged in the final weeks of the 2016 campaign of him boasting of grabbing women by the genitals, Trump apologised “if anyone was offended” and dismissed the episode as “locker room talk”. He refused calls by some in his own party to leave the presidential ticket and won the election just weeks later.
As president, Trump would respond to one scandal after another by constantly moving ahead, making it hard for the public to linger on one issue for too long, even if that meant stirring up fresh controversy.
Gaetz is emulating the former president’s approach and appealing to his most loyal supporters.
“When you see the anonymous sources and insiders forecasting my demise, know this: They aren’t really coming for me. They’re coming for you,” he said. “I’m just in the way.”
Gaetz isn’t alone in refusing to bend in the face of a political storm.
Democratic New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has steadfastly refused to resign despite several sexual misconduct allegations.
Democratic Virginia Governor Ralph Northam balked at resigning in 2019, when a picture surfaced from 1984 showing a man in a Ku Klux Klan robe. Northam apologised, but days later, he denied it was him.
The fallout eventually calmed and staying put allowed Northam to win praise for handling Virginia’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Men in both parties will do this. They double down, they deny and they hope that it will just sort of pass them by,” said Democratic strategist Nicole Brener-Schmitz. “Women are damned if they do, damned if they don’t.”
California Representative Katie Hill resigned in 2019 after admitting to inappropriate relationships with two staffers.
Meredith Conroy, a political science professor at California State University at San Bernardino and author of Masculinity, Media and the American Presidency, said women tend to be more damaged by scandal.
“Women in general, but in politics too, are perceived as more honest and moral and trustworthy,” Conroy said. “So when women don’t fit that image, it definitely becomes a point of criticism.”
An exception is Republican Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has pursued a push-forward-at-all-costs strategy. Greene was stripped of her committee assignments and forced to apologise for her support of conspiracy theories and for spreading racist tropes.
But she refused to resign, and saw her fundraising spike and her star only brighten in certain circles.
Gaetz, meanwhile, remains largely popular in his heavily pro-Trump, Panhandle district.
“I love Matt Gaetz. His family is wonderful people. He’s a wonderful person. I respect him,” said Gayle Wilson, who lives with her daughter in Niceville, Florida. “All this false, negative stuff on him is a flat-out lie.”
Even if pushing forward helps elected leaders weather immediate crises, it doesn’t always leave them with much political standing. Trump, of course, lost last year’s election to Biden and Cuomo finds himself increasingly politically isolated.
Top Republicans have been conspicuous in failing to defend Gaetz. The Floridian’s attention-grabbing style has often antagonised both parties, further suggesting he’s unlikely to accomplish much outside of Trump’s shadow.
“If your goal is simply to maintain your position, it might be an effective strategy,” Colburn said. “If your goal is to have an impact, it’s probably not the way to go.”