‘Living Off Your Daddy’s Money’: Republican Senator Roasts Matt Gaetz In Vicious Spat Over Stock Trades
Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), both hard right pro-Trump Republicans, duked it out on Twitter/X this week over allegations that Mullin cashed in on stock trades while in Congress.
The spat kicked off when Gaetz shared to his Twitter account a graphic claiming that Mullin’s net worth jumped from $12 million in 2018 to $63 million in 2022 – all while serving in Congress.
“Members of Congress officially earn $174K/year. They often make much more than that in the stock market. I’ve been writing code to estimate how much wealth politicians gain in office. I’ll be sharing the results, here’s one example. Who do you want to see next?” added an account called Quiver Quantitative above the graphic.
Gaetz shared the post earlier in the week with his own caption, writing, “We should pass a ban on trading stocks!”
The Oklahoman reported that Mullin’s network had indeed increased substantially since 2018, noting, “In his most recent financial disclosure report, Mullin reported assets totaling between $26 million to $100 million, including shares in individual stocks, mutual funds and exchange-traded funds.”
Mullin hit back at Gaetz Thursday writing, “I hear @RepMattGaetz has criticism of hard-earned success — he should try building a business that gains value, it’s more gratifying than living off your daddy’s money.”
Gaetz replied, writing, “The only thing I criticized were your stock trades while a member of congress. I want to ban those trades. You cashed in and made millions.”
Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-KY) former chief of staff took a swipe at Mullin as the spat continued, noting that his jab at Gaetz “living off” of “daddy’s money” might be a bit hypocritical. “You literally inherited your business from your father lol,” replied Doug Stafford. Mullin took over his father’s plumbing business at age 20 when his dad fell ill.
