The Florida Panhandle Republican congressman, who fought for the release of the videotapes from the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol Hill protests, said this Thanksgiving, he is reaching out to the J6 prisoners and their families.

“When we're thinking about what we're thankful for, we need to be thinking about our brothers and sisters who are the Jan. 6 political prisoners,” said Rep. Matt Gaetz, who sits on the House Judiciary Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government. 

“I've got plans over these holidays to visit the folks who are being very unfairly treated right now in Florida and Louisiana, and we're working to set those visits up,” said the congressman, who was calling in to join the “Trump Tuesday” X Space, hosted by Mark Naughton. 

“As we enjoy the good times and the good food and the good fellowship with our families, there's not a day I'm waking up where I'm not thinking about the people who are absolutely paying an unfair price right now,” he said.

Gaetz said he was grateful and impressed that Speaker Mike Johnson (R.-La.) released the tapes, a promise made by former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R.-Calif.) but not fulfilled until Johnson made the call Nov. 17—as reported in RedState.

“I think it's obvious there was more desire on the part of Speaker Johnson to get this information out, right?” the congressman said.

Gaetz also shared his perspective on his relationship with McCarthy and the record of House Republicans, which he said frustrated him since the GOP took over the lower chamber in January.

“It took us months to do something,” he said. “How does it take seven months of us being in charge to get it done? I just don't get it.”

The congressman, who is rumored to be considering a 2026 run to replace Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis after he is termed out, said he feels like House Republicans now have momentum after Johnson replaced McCarthy.

It was Gaetz who kicked off the motion to vacate the chair, which successfully ousted McCarthy Oct. 3, after weeks of warning the Californian that he was in the breech of his agreement with House conservatives.

“I'm glad that that's an area where we're finally rolling,” he said.

“I like the new speaker. I think he's doing a good job,” he said. “Obviously, we're going to give him not forever, but tens of days to show us a vision that's consistent with ours, but the last guy had seven months and his vision.”

Gaetz: I supported McCarthy after he became speaker

Although Gaetz was one of a handful of die-hards who voted to block McCarthy's election to speaker during 15 rounds of voting for a normally pro forma ceremony, he said he buried the hatchet with McCarthy and was optimistic about his speakership.

“There was nothing I wanted more than for him to fulfill the commitment that he made to us in January,” he said.

“If he'd have done that, if we'd have gotten the vote for term limits on the floor, if we'd have gotten the balanced budget amendment on the floor, if we would've just gotten a budget on the floor,” he said. “If we would've done our single subject spending bills, if the J6 tapes were out--it was never personal.”

Gaetz said he wanted McCarthy to succeed. “If that stuff would've happened, I would've been this guy's biggest backer.”

The former Florida state legislator said he has no tolerance for political leaders who do not follow through with their promises.

“I've spent a good deal of my adult life watching people in power lie to us about what they're going to do,” he said. 

“They use us to get power, and when they get it, they don't deploy it for our benefit—and I resented that deeply, and I don't care the cost,” he said.

“I was not going to tolerate that treachery and betrayal anymore, and if people want our votes, they should have to, I don't know, honor the promises they make us,” he said.

Gaetz: I am not sure DeSantis stays in the race for the Iowa Caucuses

The congressman was asked by one of the listers on the Space, Michael Thompson, the chairman of the Lee County Republican Party, if he thought DeSantis would still be an active candidate for the 2024 Republican nomination by March 19, the day the Sunshine State holds its presidential primary.

Gaetz said he was not upbeat about DeSantis' prospects.

“To me, the question is not whether DeSantis is in the race at the time of the Florida contest; it's whether or not he's in the race by the time the Iowa caucuses are held,” he said. The Iowa Caucuses are scheduled for Jan. 15.

Whether DeSantis drops out of the race will depend on his financial situation, not his political situation.

“I say that as someone who likes both men, and it probably annoys both of them that I like both of them, but I support Donald Trump. I will do anything to see Donald Trump elected,” he said.

Gaetz said it is difficult for him to have his state’s Republican governor in the race against Trump.

“As a Florida man, I appreciate the fact that Ron has been a good governor for us, and I am not going to spend time dogging him,” he said. “I want him to be a really successful governor for the next few years for our state.”

The congressman said the fights in front of him mean he is backing Trump.

"I know for the fights that we have now and the enemy that we face and the battles that are ahead of us, there is but one man," he said.