Former Congressman Matt Gaetz is hitting back at Alan Ritchson, accusing the actor of lying about them being adversaries when they attended the same Florida high school.
Gaetz posted a message Thursday on X, explaining that Hollywood had apparently changed Ritchson — best known for his title role as Jack Reacher in the TV series, “Reacher.”
Hollywood apparently changes people!
Alan was a year behind me in high school and we were both on the Speech and Debate Team.
We were not “adversaries” as I won debate championships and Alan did more acting stuff. As I recall, his older brother Eric won more often than Alan… https://t.co/7FjSf0TnDd
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) February 20, 2025
@mattgaetz
Gaetz — who represented Florida’s 1st congressional district from 2017 to 2024 — said the two were on the Speech and Debate Team at Niceville High School and couldn’t remember any tension between them, saying flat out “we were not adversaries.”
Gaetz also bragged he took home the win at the debate championships while Ritchson was more focused on acting.
Gaetz noted he was beloved by Ritchson’s family, namely his mom, Vickie, who invited the ex-politician to her husband’s retirement party from the military at a bar. Gaetz said he even sang the famous J. Geils Band song, “Centerfold,” during the soiree.
Getty
But, Ritchson saw their relationship very differently, telling GQ magazine in a recent interview that Gaetz was a “motherf***er” and they were “adversaries.”
Ritchson also said he was shocked Floridians continued to vote for Gaetz with everything the country knew about the guy.
TMZ.com
Of course, Ritchson was alluding to allegations Gaetz had sex with an underage girl — something he has vehemently denied.
You may recall, Gaetz resigned from the House in 2024 after he was nominated by then-President-Elect Trump to be Attorney General, but he withdrew his candidacy amid accusations of sex trafficking and drug use, calling it all a distraction.
Ritchson ended his roasting of Gaetz by saying Matt’s “not a good dude.”
