Matt Gaetz is Trump's main man on cable news and on the floor of the House

Rep. Matt Gaetz is one of President Trump's most steadfast defenders on cable news. The second-term Florida Republican can frequently be seen on the airwaves pushing back against the Russia investigation or supporting economic reopening amid the coronavirus.

Gaetz, 38, may also be the closest thing to a full-spectrum ideological "Trumpist" in Congress. He supports the president's approach to curbing illegal immigration and confronting China but also is willing to end "endless wars," even when it means running afoul of the White House. Gaetz voted for a resolution to end U.S. participation in the war in Yemen, which Trump vetoed. He also backed a Trump-opposed resolution that would make it more difficult for the president to use troops stationed in the Middle East to wage war against Iran without congressional approval.

"The examples of Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya — just to name a few — teach us that it is an illusion to think that just beyond the life of every dictator lies a peaceful democracy, rather than generations of anarchy, violence, terrorism, and chaos," Gaetz said in a speech last year. "Freedom cannot be America's gift to the world, purchased with the blood of U.S. service members alone."

Gaetz has said there is a split between Republicans who want to "manage" Trump and those who would fully capitalize on the opportunity his time in office provides to chart a different course for the party. "To fully vindicate the Trump presidency," he told an interviewer, "we need to embrace the energy of the populist elements of the Trump movement."

That, Gaetz has tried to do in multimedia fashion. In addition to his ubiquity on cable news, Gaetz has a podcast called HotTakes. Simon & Schuster has published his book, Firebrand: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the MAGA Revolution, billed as a "scathingly funny account of his time in the Washington swamp."

An ally of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is also close to Trump, Gaetz served three terms in the state Legislature before being elected to the House in 2016. He was reelected in the midterm elections two years later, even as Republicans lost their majority. He represents Florida's 1st Congressional District and sits on both the Judiciary and Armed Services committees.

Critics say Gaetz's defenses of Trump can be over the top. "They'll disarm you, empty the prisons, lock you in your home, and invite MS-13 to live next door," he said of the Democratic ticket in his Republican National Convention speech. "And the defunded police aren't on their way."

But his criticism of recent U.S. military interventions is politically risky in a district with many veterans and active-duty personnel. Gaetz has also tried to argue for a populist, nationalist conservatism in greater detail than Trump. "America is not just an idea or a constitution, it is our home," he told the GOP convention. He has supported marijuana legalization and a "pollution tax" while also forging unlikely bipartisan friendships with Democratic colleagues Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Katie Hill.

Gaetz is seen as an ambitious figure who is likely to run for higher office. He has been linked to Senate openings in Florida, although both seats are currently held by established Republican incumbents and neighboring Alabama. He is occasionally the subject even of 2024 presidential rumors. He is running for reelection to the House this year.