GOP senator blasts Matt Gaetz for mooching off 'daddy’s money' after Gaetz calls him corrupt

Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Oklahoma) and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) are having a public back-and-forth on social media after the latter accused his fellow Republican of corruption.

On Wednesday, Gaetz posted a graphic to X (formerly Twitter) showing that Mullin's wealth had increased from $12 million, when he was a member of the House of Representatives, to $63 million in 2022 after several years in the US Senate. Gaetz tweeted the graphic with the words "we should pass a ban on trading stocks!"

Mullin didn't take kindly to Gaetz's post, and attacked the Florida congressman's "criticism of hard-earned success," adding that "he should try building a business that gains value" and that doing so is "more gratifying than living off your daddy’s money."

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Gaetz, for his part, shot back at Mullin, tweeting that the only thing he criticized was Mullin's stock trades as a member of Congress.

"I want to ban those trades," Gaetz posted. "You cashed in and made millions."

Mullin's point about Gaetz's wealth is true: The far-right Florida congressman comes from an incredibly wealthy family, with Forbes estimating his father and mother's net worth at approximately $30 million as of June 2020. Gaetz's father, Don, is a former hospital executive who oversaw facilities in Florida and Wisconsin, and who eventually founded hospice provider Vitas Healthcare. Don and Victoria Gaetz now own multiple seven-figure stakes in various companies, 13 pieces of real estate and have a large and diverse stock portfolio.

However, Mullin is also a beneficiary of family wealth. According to a 2012 Roll Call profile of Mullin, the Oklahoma congressman admitted to inheriting his father's plumbing company, which he then built up over the years. Mullin — a mixed martial arts (MMA) enthusiast — has also founded an MMA gym called "Oklahoma Fight Club." Mullin's penchant for fisticuffs was on full display during a Senate committee hearing in November, when he challenged International Brotherhood of Teamsters president Sean O'Brien to a fight before being deterred by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont).

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