‘AOC Is Wrong a Lot, But She’s Not Corrupt’: Matt Gaetz Defends Bipartisan Bill With ‘Pelosi Provision’ to Stop Congressional Stock Trades
Rep. Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-FL) defended his bipartisan anti-congressional stock trading bill with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) on Tuesday, telling Fox News that while he often disagreed with the congresswoman, she is “not corrupt.”
“AOC is wrong a lot – she would probably say the same thing about me – but she’s not corrupt,” said Gaetz during an appearance on Fox News’s Jesse Watters Primetime, before adding that he would “work with anyone and everyone to ensure that Congress is not so compromised.”
Gaetz – who was assaulted by a woman in Florida this past week – said the government “should disallow congressional stock trading for the same reason we don’t allow the referee to bet on the game,” and he pointed out that “788 million dollars worth of securities traded by members of Congress last year” alone.
“About one in every four members of Congress is doing this, and it’s not exactly like I’m elected with a bunch of Gordon Gekkos and Bobby Axelrods. Take Lois Frankel, who you just mentioned. She’s been a lawmaker since I was five years old, and I’m supposed to believe that all of a sudden she’s making moves like she’s Warren Buffett? This congressional stock trading has all of the fairness of like a Lia Thomas swimming competition and I think we should put an end to it.”
Asked by Fox News host Jesse Watters if he negotiated the details of the bill with Ocasio-Cortez in “a backroom filled with smoke,” Gaetz replied, “Well, we did negotiate heavily over this.” The congressman said that they had both wanted to ensure “that members of Congress couldn’t just have a veneer to have a family member trading the stock for them.”
“So perhaps it’s the ‘Pelosi Provision’ of our legislation that does not allow spouses to do these trades on behalf of their family members,” said Gaetz, who concluded that the bill would let Americans know “we’re working for them, not our own pocketbooks.”
Watters concluded the interview by asking Gaetz to “tell AOC I said hello,” to which Gaetz responded, “Will do.”
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has opposed calls for members of Congress to be banned from trading on the stock market. “We are a free market economy. They should be able to participate in that,” Pelosi argued in 2021.
The non-profit organization OpenSecrets estimated Pelosi’s net worth to be nearly $115 million as of 2018, making her one of the wealthiest members of Congress.
Watch above via Fox News.
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