WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, an ardent backer of Donald Trump, says he'd be willing to leave the House of Representatives if offered to represent the former president during his second impeachment trial.
The Florida Republican asked if he and other Trump supporters in the House could offer any of their services to defend Trump in the upcoming Senate trial but was denied, Gaetz said on the podcast, "War Room Pandemic."
"We would be honored to, and the word we got back from [the] House Ethics [Committee] is that we could not, as sitting members of the House, go and defend him in the Senate," Gaetz said.
Trump, the first president in U.S. history to be impeached twice, faces an impeachment charge of "incitement of insurrection" for encouraging a mob of supporters to "fight like hell" just prior to the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
If the president called and asked for help, Gaetz said "absolutely" he would leave the House. In a jab, Democratic U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle tweeted he "strongly" supports Gaetz's resignation.
"I would do anything I had to do to ensure the greatest president in my lifetime...got a full-throated defense...," Gaetz said.
Gaetz echoed his comments speaking Wednesday with Fox News, saying he had not been asked to join Trump's legal team but would do so if asked.
"I only regret that I have but one political career to give to my president," Gaetz said.
Trump, while a popular figure among Republicans, departed the White House with the worst approval rating of his presidency, according to Gallup. The polling organization found Trump's rating dropped 12 points since the 2020 election he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.
During that time, the former president and his campaign made unfounded claims of election fraud -- he and his legal team filed 62 lawsuits filed in state and federal courts; 61 failed, according to USA Today -- and encouraged his supporters to stop a Constitutionally legal proceeding to certify Biden's victory.
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