Will Matt Gaetz be an Anti-War Leader?

By
Jose Nino
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In the Trump era, several Republicans have made a name for themselves by questioning the U.S. government’s never-ending wars abroad. 

The usual suspects include the libertarian-leaning Kentucky Senator Rand Paul and congressman Thomas Massie. One person that has joined this interventionism skeptic coalition in the GOP is Florida congressman Matt Gaetz.

Gaetz has largely followed in Massie’s footsteps. Throughout the 2020 campaign trail, Massie sought to play up Trump’s more restrained vision for foreign policy. During the presidential debates, Massie highlighted in a tweet several facts concerning  “US Military casualties in the war in Afghanistan” during the Trump administration and the previous two administrations. The Kentucky congressman asked “why won’t the press report this?” Massie outlined that there were 630 casualties that took place during the Bush administration, 1758 casualties during the Obama administration, and 63 casualties during the current Trump administration.

Massie declared that “one more US casualty in this war is one too many,” and the congressman congratulated the President “for winding this war down,” and concluded his message by calling on President Donald Trump to “End #endlesswars.”

According to the Floridian Press, Gaetz retweeted Massie’s anti-war post.

LCN has reported on Gaetz’s steadfast devotion to an America First foreign policy. He has opposed potential interventions in Venezuela and Iran. In the latter case, he joined Massie in supporting a resolution that would have placed constraints on President Trump’s ability to use military action against Iran, which the House approved by a vote count of 224-194.

Gaetz justified his vote by explaining that “this resolution lays out the case for self-defense, at times even preemptive self-defense, and it dictates congress to do its job and vote for or against these forever wars.”

“That’s been my position, consistently,” Gaetz continued.

This vote came in response to the assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani earlier this year. Many feared that such an action would have potentially escalated tensions between America and Iran. Thankfully, the Trump administration showed restraint and did not pursue further action. Gaetz recently won his re-election bid by a decisive 64.6 percent to 34 percent margin. The Florida congressman will be part of a new America First contingent of the Republican Party which questions the foreign policy consensus of yore. For those who want to see America take a more restrained approach to foreign policy, Gaetz is their guy.