Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz questioned Sunday why an Atlantic reporter has not yet retracted a tweet about him despite it being debunked by a Politico reporter and an on-record statement by the Florida Governor.
Rep. Matt Gaetz tweeted: “How has @TheAtlantic not demanded retraction of this tweet from its reporter?
1 – it didn’t happen
2 – no sourcing
2 – contradicted on-record by me & @GovRonDeSantis, confirmed by @MarcACaputo
3 – contradicted by phone records reported by @anaceballos_ #FakeNews @HowardKurtz”
How has @TheAtlantic not demanded retraction of this tweet from its reporter?
1 – it didn’t happen
2 – no sourcing
2 – contradicted on-record by me & @GovRonDeSantis, confirmed by @MarcACaputo
3 – contradicted by phone records reported by @anaceballos_ #FakeNews @HowardKurtz https://t.co/lOH1Uf7YwV— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) March 3, 2019
The Atlantic reporter, Edward Isaac-Dovere tweeted Thursday, February 28, that President Donald Trump had called Gaetz from Hanoi on Wednesday evening to discuss Michael Cohen’s testimony. He claimed that Gaetz told Trump: “I was happy to do it for you. You just keep killing it.”
Isaac-Dovere’s tweet suggested that Gaetz was referring to his tweet in which he asked Cohen if his wife knew about his mistresses. Democrats had slammed that tweet as “witness intimidation.”
Nearly a dozen mainstream and leftist news outlets reported on the alleged call between Trump and Gaetz, citing that tweet.
However, since that tweet, reporters with Politico and News Service of Florida have confirmed that Gaetz was talking to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) when he said those words, not Trump.
Politico reporter Marc Caputo tweeted Friday that he has confirmed with DeSantis’s office that the governor called Gaetz on Wednesday evening to discuss a state appointment.
Furthermore, Caputo tweeted that a DeSantis spokesperson said, “The governor can confirm those were the words that were spoken to him” by Gaetz.
DeSantis spox: “The governor can confirm those were the words that were spoken to him”
— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) March 2, 2019
News Service of Florida reporter Ana Ceballos also confirmed with DeSantis that he was speaking with Gaetz on Wednesday evening.
Few days after it was reported @mattgaetz, on a phone call with @realDonaldTrump, said “I was happy to do it for you…just keep killing it” about the tweet accusing Michael Cohen of infidelity, @GovRonDeSantis is confirming Gaetz said those words to him about a state appointment
— Ana Ceballos (@anaceballos_) March 2, 2019
Ceballos tweeted that DeSantis’s spokesperson said the call took place about 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday and lasted ten to 15 minutes.
The spokesperson said the conversation was about the appointment of Randall Hunt to the Orlando Airport Board. She also obtained a screenshot from Gaetz showing that DeSantis called him at 8:37 p.m. on Wednesday.
Ceballos noted that DeSantis’s office rarely speaks about personal conversations but felt the need to “correct the record.”
@GovRonDeSantis office rarely–or actually, never–comments about the governor’s personal conversations. Spox said they are doing so now because they are getting a lot of requests, feel need to “correct the record.”
Doesn’t hurt that Gaetz is a close ally of the governor.
— Ana Ceballos (@anaceballos_) March 2, 2019
Gaetz has also questioned the Atlantic’s Editor in Chief Jeffrey Goldberg on whether he stood behind Isaac-Dovere’s reporting.
.@JeffreyGoldberg – Does @TheAtlantic stand behind this reporting? Do you really feel good about your sourcing here given the reporting by @MarcACaputo & @anaceballos_ showing this was a convo I had with @GovRonDeSantis, NOT Trump? pic.twitter.com/7eumviAUbi
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) March 3, 2019
Neither Isaac-Dovere nor Goldberg has responded to Gaetz, and the tweet remains up, with more than 9,500 retweets and 17,900 likes.
Gaetz, who is a staunch Trump supporter, has increasingly become a target of the left.
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/breitbart/~3/1Kpg0N0gXOA/