POLITICAL GENEALOGY

Meet Your Great-Great-Grandfather, Matt Gaetz

Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida recently made his debut on the national stage when he attempted to hijack the first House Judiciary Committee hearing on gun violence in eight years to push the discredited notion that immigration is at the heart of violence in America — and for good measure, he tried to have two Parkland fathers who had lost their children to gunfire less than a year ago ejected from the proceedings.

Even for those familiar with Gaetz’s history — claiming that “illegal immigrants” are “sucking us dry,” asserting that attacks from “Muslim terrorists” are on the rise, speculating that migrant caravans were funded by Soros, inviting a Holocaust denier to the State of the Union, defending a staffer for soliciting legislative input from a conspiracy forum known for white nationalism, and most recently, supporting the declaration of a national emergency to secure funds to build a wall (reversing his position from just a month earlier) — this basic lack of human decency was startling.

It’s fair to say he’s not a fan of immigration or immigrants (to save us all time, anyone already formulating “illegal immigrant” commentary is invited here for a preview of my now standard response to this tired trope), and is not shy to share that perspective.

Always curious about the immigrant past of those who actively seek to slam the door today, I decided to take a look at Gaetz’s family tree, and found many of the usual ingredients…