A Republican senator who Trump World is praising for changing his mind and supporting Matt Gaetz has not decided whether to back the scandal-plagued former congressman, he tells the Daily Beast.
“No, I never said I was going to vote for Gaetz, that is absolutely not true,” Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin said in the Capitol on Tuesday.
Mullin, a former professional MMA fighter who frequently clashed with—but never physically fought—Gaetz when the two served in the House together, pushed back hard when questioned by a Daily Beast reporter.
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“I said I’d keep an open mind, but I have not said—there was a report that came out because of the interview I had on Squawk Box this morning, and I never, there’s nowhere in there that said I said I was voting for him.”
In that CNBC appearance Tuesday morning, Mullin sounded more positive than usual about Trump’s attorney general pick, who has been under scrutiny for alleged illicit drug use and sexual misconduct involving a 17-year-old girl.
Gaetz has denied all wrongdoing, and the Justice Department dropped its probe last year without bringing charges. Gaetz resigned days before the potential release of a House Ethics Committee report detailing the findings of its years-long investigation, which reportedly included testimony from two women who say the former Florida lawmaker paid them for sex.
Turning Point USA founder and Trump ally Charlie Kirk quickly posted a clip from Mullin’s interview, framing it as a commitment to vote for Gaetz. The president-elect’s new right-hand man, Elon Musk, then weighed in, writing, “Great.”
The former president’s campaign account also shared the clip, highlighting his comments that Trump’s “unconventional” choices are what the American people voted for.
Even Gaetz himself declared a win, saying Mullin is “MAGA to the core!”
The two men have a notably tense relationship, with Mullin previously slamming Gaetz as “unprincipled” and accusing him of showing off his sexual conquests.
“We had all seen the videos he was showing on the House floor, that all of us had walked away, of the girls that he had slept with,” he told CNN in 2023. “He’d brag about how he would crush ED medicine and chase it with an energy drink so he could go all night.”
Gaetz has denied the claim.
On Sunday, Mullin called for the House Ethics Committee to release its report into Gaetz’s alleged sexual misconduct to senators. His rosier tone on Tuesday led some to speculate that Trump—who has been personally calling senators on Gaetz’s behalf and praised Mullin in a Monday Truth Social post—had won him over.
But asked by the Daily Beast on Tuesday afternoon to clarify whether, in fact, he had made up his mind about supporting Gaetz, Mullin said he had not.
The House Ethics Committee is expected to meet on Wednesday, and could decide to release its damning report on Gaetz.
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