Rep. Matt Gaetz gets hero's welcome in Navarre, touts his 'constructive chaos' in D.C.

U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz may be among the most controversial people in Washington D.C., but there is no shortage of love for him in his home district in Northwest Florida.

A crowd of well over 100 people showed up at Navarre Park in South Santa Rosa County to give Gaetz a hero's welcome, and cheered him on as he regaled them with stories of his victories over House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and "the swamp."

"We took on the swamp and we won," he said.

Though Gaetz has been heavily criticized outside of the Florida's First District as the single member of Congress to request McCarthy's seat be vacated, a move which ultimately led to McCarthy's removal and threw Washington into three full weeks of chaos, that's not the way he's treated at home.

One woman in the crowd Monday captured the sentiment of the evening's campaign event with a sign that said "Hero Gaetz Made History."

"It's a great honor for me to be here to support the greatest Congressman in American history," gushed Santa Rosa County Commissioner James Calkins, who often sings Gaetz's praises from the board dais. "We didn't send him to Washington to get along, we sent him there to make a difference."

The crowd also got two for one on the campaign front as Matt's father, former Florida Senate President Don Gaetz, now running to rejoin the State Legislature, joined his son on stage to bang home his mantra of lowering high interest rates, high insurance rates and high housing costs.

Gaetz told the crowd that Northwest Floridians had urged him in at his last visit in January to use the motion to vacate he held over McCarthy.

"I did not make this decision lightly, but I did not feel it fair to stand in front of you again as we talked about in January, institutional change.

Get to know Gaetz: Florida congressman Matt Gaetz is no stranger to controversy

He compared his role in seeing the first House Speaker ousted to that of the founding fathers carving the United States out of a vast wilderness. He also likened his work on the floor of the House to that of John Quincy Adams, who stood alone among his peers to voice his protest against the institution of slavery.

"They say Matt Gaetz is full of chaos," he said. "Well there are times you can have constructive chaos and bring order out of chaos."

The congressman also applauded the election of Louisiana's Mike Johnson as the Speaker to replace McCarthy. He made several references to his close ties to Johnson and the work the two will do together.

Gaetz got a big cheer of "no" when he criticized "so many of our politicians" wanting to send money to Ukraine.

"I don't think we should send another $115 billion to Ukraine," he said to cheers.

He called the United State's Southern Border, Israel and Ukraine "very different issues" that should be legislated separately.

Gaetz said he had talked to Johnson and the Speaker had shared his thought that the best place to find $14 billion to help Israel fund its war effort against HAMAs would be from money used to fund the IRS.

Both Matt and Don Gaetz echoed worries that local education systems "have turned at odds with families."

"I think the evil comes out of the federal system of education," the congressman said. "My idea would be not to shrink it, not to bend it, we should abolish the Federal Department of Education and send all of that authority to families and states."

The event concluded with Gaetz thanking the people of Northwest Florida for supporting him and his conservative values. Those in attendance left seemingly their appetite for his brand of politics sated.

"I appreciate the people who are standing up for us," said Sherri Springer, who had driven in from Walton County to attend the event. "I love Matt Gaetz."

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Congressman Matt Gaetz calls House speaker ouster constructive chaos