'Matt Gaetz wants to date your child' billboard goes up in Florida

Cheryl Teh
Updated ·2 min read
matt gaetz FL billboard
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  • A billboard emblazoned with "Matt Gaetz wants to 'date' your child" went up in Florida this week.

  • The billboard was paid for by a liberal political action committee called Mad Dog.

  • He's been the star of other snarky billboards in Florida, including one mocking his 2008 DUI arrest.

  • See more stories on Insider's business page.

A billboard emblazoned with "Matt Gaetz wants to 'date' your child" went up in Florida this week, trolling the Florida lawmaker over a federal sex-trafficking investigation.

The billboard was paid for by a liberal political action committee called Mad Dog.

Northwest Florida Daily News reported that the billboard was on State Road 85, a busy north-south highway, near the Hub City center in Crestview.

Gaetz has spent the past two weeks grappling with reports that he's a focus of a Justice Department investigation into whether he had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old and paid for her to travel with him.

Gaetz has emphatically denied all the allegations and asserted that the investigation was part of a long con to extort $25 million from his family.

Gaetz has starred in previous Mad Dog billboards in Florida. One that went up in 2018 featured Gaetz's mugshot from his 2008 arrest on a charge of driving under the influence and said "Rep. Matt Gaetz: How many DUIs have you had? The voters deserve to know."

Another that went up in 2019 featured Gaetz's mugshot and displayed the word "GOP" with the hammer and sickle of the Soviet Union flag.

The billboard's appearance this week coincided with a Daily Beast report, published Thursday, that said Gaetz in 2018 sent $900 via Venmo to Joel Greenberg, a political ally who's been accused of sex trafficking.

The Daily Beast report said that Greenberg then sent $900 in varying amounts to three women, including an 18-year-old who now works in the porn industry, earmarking the money as "Tuition" and "School."

Greenberg, who used to work as a tax collector in Florida, has been indicted on 33 charges, including sex trafficking involving a 17-year-old girl, and is expected to plead guilty and could cooperate with law enforcement.

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