July 20, 2018 was a warm, sunny Friday in the Florida Panhandle. Congressional candidate Jennifer Zimmerman was hard at work, rising early to see patients at her pediatric clinic. For several busy hours, she took temperatures, swabbed tongues, and treated ear infections.
Then, Zimmerman rushed out the door for her next important task. She was scheduled to appear at an eagerly awaited forum hosted by the Panhandle Tiger Bay Club, a non-partisan group that “seeks guest speakers that offer a wide dissemination of ideas and issues.” Zimmerman and three other congressional candidates, both Democratic and Republican, spoke to a full house, discussing a variety of local concerns and ideas about how to address them. The Panhandle Tiger Bay Club reported the event “a success.”
And yet, something was missing. Someone was missing—namely, Matt Gaetz, the incumbent in the race for Florida’s 1st congressional district.
Gaetz claimed he had a prior congressional commitment. It is not unusual for sitting members of Congress to have packed schedules. Congressmen and women often have to make difficult choices about which events to attend in order to best serve their districts. Thus, voters probably trusted that Gaetz was hard at work in Washington, representing the best interests of his constituents.
Today, the truth was revealed by Mother Jones. In fact, Gaetz spent July 20 with infamous Holocaust denier Chuck C. Johnson.
Johnson, who was was the first person on Earth to receive a lifetime ban from Twitter, is no stranger to controversy. He has made a number of questionable media appearances, such as this racially-charged 2016 interview on alt-right podcast Fash the Nation. In this now-deleted selection from his 2017 Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything), Johnson writes:
The relationship between Gaetz and Johnson has been under fire for months. Gaetz was initially criticized after selecting Johnson as a guest for Donald Trump’s first State of the Union address. Facing intense backlash, Gaetz claimed that,
“. . . he and Johnson had no pre-existing relationship and that he provided him with a ticket to the speech after Johnson ‘showed up at my office’ the day of the speech. The congressman said he had an extra ticket after his father came down with bronchitis and couldn’t make it. Johnson just happened to be in the right place at the right time.”
Gaetz alleged that he and Johnson hadn’t interacted at the event in any significant way, though he hinted that they may stay in contact. Johnson, on the other hand, “said that he was invited by several members of Congress but ‘took Gaetz’s invitation’ as ‘he’s into stuff on the issues that I care about.’”
In a futile attempt to defend his actions, Gaetz also insisted that Johnson is not a Holocaust denier during a Fox Business interview. After being publicly condemned by the Anti-Defamation League and others, Gaetz seemed rightfully ashamed, anxious to put the uproar behind him.
And then, just shy of six months later, Gaetz inexplicably chose to appear with Johnson yet again at his July 20 reelection fundraiser aboard a yacht off the coast of Newport Beach, California. He then lied to his constituents about his whereabouts.
For Zimmerman, Gaetz’s disregard for his constituents is especially hurtful. Zimmerman is proudly married to Jay Zimmerman, a Jewish man, and has raised her children in Judaism. “Sometimes in politics, things can get personal,” Zimmerman writes. “These are my children and their dad celebrating a Jewish holiday.”
The voters of Florida’s 1st Congressional District have been neglected and embarrassed by their Congressman one too many times. They deserve tolerant, respectful, thoughtful representation in Washington—a change Zimmerman is more than capable of delivering.
You can learn more about Jennifer Zimmerman below.
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-Laura Herbek, Staff Writer