TOPLINE
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) on Thursday revealed he had a 19-year-old Cuban son, Nestor Galban, shortly after a heated exchange with Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-La.) over whether white members of Congress could understand the experiences of black men in America.
KEY FACTS
“You all are white males, you never lived in my shoes and you do not know what it’s like to be an African American male,” Richmond asserted to his Republican colleagues on Wednesday, to which Gaetz responded, “Are you suggesting that you’re certain that none of us have nonwhite children?”
Richmond shot back, “It’s not about the color of your kids. It is about black people in the streets getting killed. And if one of them happens to be your kid, I’m concerned about him too. And clearly I’m more concerned about him than you are,” angering Gaetz, who shouted, “Who in the hell do you think you are?”
Gaetz followed up on the exchange on Thursday by tweeting a photo of Nestor Galban, a 19-year-old legal Cuban immigrant who Gaetz said is his son and has lived with him for 6 years.
“We share no blood but he is my life,” Gaetz said of Galban. “Nestor turned 19 a few days ago & will be off to University. He arrived here at 12,” adding that his decision to reveal Galban now is in response to Richmond “diminishing the contributions of Republicans because we don’t raise non-white kids.”
Twitter users quickly noted that Gaetz has discussed Nestor before, not as his son, but as a “local student” and a “helper” who was one of his pages when he was a member of the Florida House of Representatives.
Gaetz’s sister Erin pushed back against allegations that Galban isn’t Gaetz’s son by tweeting several pictures of Gaetz and Galban from when Galban was a young teenager.
Forbes has reached out to Gaetz’s House office for clarification on the matter.
Key Quote
Former Rep. Katie Hill (D-Calif.), who Gaetz defended when she came under fire for an alleged relationship with a campaign staffer, tweeted in support of Gaetz. “He talks about Nestor more than anything, has done so much for his son & is truly a proud dad,” Hill tweeted, adding that Gaetz “was never ‘hiding’ his son.” Instead, she asserted, he was “trying to protect him from the crap that comes from being a politician’s kid, especially after what Nestor had been through, especially in this political climate. Now that Nestor is grown he’s made his own choice to enter the spotlight. Good for them.”
Chief Critic
Some felt Gaetz’s revelation about Galban didn’t serve as a sufficient rebuttal to Richmond. “My sister is from Bangladesh but that wouldn’t give me any insight into what it’s like to be Black in America,” tweeted Meghan McCain, daughter of late Sen. John McCain.
Key Background
Richmond initially went after Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee for proposing amendments to the Democrats’ police reform bill. Some, he alleged, were “a tangent and a distraction from what we’re talking about,” including an amendment that scrutinizes ‘Antifa.’ “If you are opposed to this legislation, let’s just have a vote,” Richmond exclaimed. “But please don’t come in here and make a mockery of the pain that exists in my community.”