Matt Gaetz
(Picture: Getty Images)When controversial congressman Matt Gaetz shared a photo of his fiancée sleeping to Twitter, it wasn’t just her who was left open-mouthed.
The “creepy” photo, posted on Friday, shows Ginger Luckey asleep on an aeroplane, while Gaetz is next to her, masked, staring directly into the camera.
“So blessed to be with the beautiful @LuckeyGinger,” the caption read.
So blessed to be with the beautiful @LuckeyGinger pic.twitter.com/yOmG9WFdXE
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) August 20, 2021
It isn’t the first time that Gaetz has faced public scrutiny, either. In November, the Trump supporter asked the then-president to pardon himself, as well as Tiger King star Joe Exotic, who is currently serving a 22-year prison sentence on animal abuse charges and murder-for-hire.
Then, in April this year, he published a “bizarre” rebuttal in The Washington Examiner to allegations that he engaged in child sex trafficking, saying he “is not a monk and certainly not a criminal”.
The Florida politician is under federal investigation by the FBI in relation to the accusation, which he denies.
More recently, he showed up at the Los Angeles courthouse where Britney Spears was contesting her “abusive” conservatorship, and addressed #FreeBritney supporters gathered outside.
“Britney’s been abused by the media, she’s been abused by a grifter father, and she has been abused by the American justice system.
“One thing we can all agree on is that [father] Jamie Spears is a d***,” he said.
This time, however, Gaetz is under fire for taking the snap, which his behaviour being described as “weird” by Twitter users:
I would literally break up with you over posting this photo.
— Kate 🤍🇺🇸 (@ImSpeaking13) August 20, 2021
Nice to show the world how much you respect your girlfriend’s privacy. How creepy is that? Anything for a laugh, eh Matt?
— 💙Rapunzel™ VAXXED💙 (@co_rapunzel4) August 20, 2021
Let's hope when she wakes up and sees this pic going viral, she really wakes up.
— 🌊🌍 Meaghan not Megan 🌍🌊 (@ImSoConfused225) August 21, 2021
Your act of posting a pic of her captured while she was sleeping, without her permission, particularly in a position which she would not approve, is further testimony to your misogyny, objectification, crassness, oafishness, and complete lack of empathy.
— Dr. Jack Brown (@DrGJackBrown) August 21, 2021
Wow. The creep factor is off the charts.
— lc (@lcatboonies) August 20, 2021
OMG.
A wise man would delete this post immediately. Someone will not be amused
— Donna Semekis (@Ihosey) August 20, 2021
Creepy AF!!!!
— Agolf Twitler Slayer (@bblock29) August 20, 2021
This is a weird picture, dude. And the fact that you think it’d cool really says something about you
— Pro Democracy, Prosecute Sedition (@Nasty_Mindy) August 21, 2021
This is the weirdest Tweet I think I’ve ever seen in my entire life.
— 🎙News You Need (@ElizManresa) August 21, 2021
The creep factor on this photo is off the charts.
— Matt Johnson (@HotPockets4All) August 21, 2021
Ginger herself has since responded to the photo, appearing to take it in jest.
“No shame in a little beauty sleep,” she quote tweeted.
Elsewhere, Luckey’s sister Roxanne reportedly took to TikTok last month to post a video about her sibling’s relationship, sharing a screenshot of a New York Times article concerning the investigation into Gaetz.
“When a creepy old man tries to hit on you at the bar but your sisters [sic] engaged to a literal pedophile,” she wrote, before later clarifying in a follow-up video that she actually meant the term ‘ephebophile’, which refers to someone with an attraction to mid-to-late adolescents.
Responding to the accusation, Ginger told The Daily Beast: “Matt and I are enjoying our engagement and are deeply in love. My estranged sister is mentally unwell.
“She has been in therapy for years and our family hopes that after receiving in-patient mental health treatment, she will overcome the tendency she has repeatedly shown to engage in destructive behaviour.”
Gaetz denies any wrongdoing, and when approached by the website for comment, a spokesperson for the politician said he stands by his fiancée and the statement she provided.
