“History will judge harshly my Republican colleagues who deny the science of climate change. Similarly, those Democrats who would use climate change as a basis to regulate out of existence the American experience will face the harsh reality that their ideas will fail.”

American politician, lawyer, and political commentator, born 1982

Matthew Louis Gaetz II is an American politician, lawyer, and political commentator. Born in 1982, he served as the U.S. representative for Florida's 1st congressional district from 2017 until his resignation in 2024. A Republican and self-described libertarian populist, Gaetz is known for his hard-right politics and his close alignment with Donald Trump. In October 2023, he filed the motion to vacate that helped remove Kevin McCarthy as speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.