Former congressman Matt Gaetz’s response to actor Alan Ritchson’s scathing takedown of him has MAGA melting down and the rest of the internet congratulating the Reacher star.
In a recent interview with GQ, Ritchson slammed the right-wing politician who he went to school with and who has been accused of paying a 17-year-old girl for sex, among other crimes.
“That motherf—er. We are adversaries,” Ritchson said. “It's shocking to me that the panhandle of Florida continues to vote for somebody—knowing everything we know about him and the promises that he's made behind closed doors about pardoning certain criminals—he's just not a good dude!”
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Ritchson, who GQ described as if “your sweetest childhood friend got jacked and made it big in Hollywood,” said that Gaetz almost makes him want to run for office himself.
“There's part of me that wants to get into politics to outdo somebody like him for good, and there's part of me that's like, I'm not duplicitous enough to succeed in politics,” he said. “There are certain people that do a good job of staying true to who they are, but they're ineffective. I think Bernie Sanders is a hero. But it's like, what has he accomplished?”
After Ritchson’s quotes about the Florida politician went viral online, Gaetz took to X (formerly Twitter) to hit back. While MAGA supporters predictably cheered on Gaetz the rest of the internet seemed to be rooting for Ritchson.
In a series of posts, Gaetz wrote that he was a year ahead of Ritchson at the Florida high school they both attended and that the two men weren’t “adversaries” but claimed that “Hollywood apparently changes people!”
In a follow-up post, Gaetz continued his insults, “Spoiler alert: We were not adversaries. He’s just trying to get Hollywood attention (but not just with the steroids).” In both posts, Gaetz brought up Ritchson’s family, writing that he knew his older brother and mother and went to his father’s retirement party. “I remember the time his mom (who is wonderful) wouldn’t let me read the Ken Starr Report in 1998 in the NHS computer lab because….(you know),” he posted.
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This isn’t the first time Ritchson has spoken candidly about his dislike of Republican politicians. Back in April 2024, he opened up about his faith and why he thinks Donald Trump’s brand of politics is “antithetical to what Jesus was calling us to be and do” in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
"Trump is a rapist and a con man, and yet the entire Christian church seems to be treat him like he's their poster child and it's unreal. I don't understand it,” he said.
While MAGA has been calling Ritchson “delusional” and an “unhinged Hollywierd cultist" for his remarks, the rest of the internet was busy talking about how much they would pay to watch Ritchson “snap ‘pedo’ Gaetz in half” and that “Matt Gaetz getting called a pedophile and a loser on the debate stage by Walking Refrigerator Alan Ritchson” would make it worth it to have an actor run for office.
Keep scrolling to see the funniest reactions to Ritchson’s scathing takedown of Gaetz!
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"Alan 'reacher' ritchson could snap Matt 'pedo' Gaetz in half & I would pay to see that."
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"Tell us how you really feel."
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"I would vote for Alan Ritchson. Always wanted to have a president who is fully yoked, hates Nazis and pedophiles, and calls Matt Gaetz a motherfucker. 10/10 political candidate. No notes."
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"look. look. i know okay. i know we don't like actors doing politics because that's how we got in this mess in the first place. BUT. matt gaetz getting called a pedophile and a loser on the debate stage by Walking Refrigerator Alan Ritchson may be worth it"
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"Alan Ritchson vs Matt Gaetz"
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"A jacked up Alan Ritchson running for president and talking shit about Matt Gaetz would clear 400 electoral votes"
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"Jack Reacher calling pedo Matt Gaetz a motherfucker gives me all the feels."
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"lol, the mothers and daughters probably agree"
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"I would actually pay money to watch Alan Ritchson to beat up Matt Gaetz."
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"I’ve been a huge Alan Ritchson fan since his portrayal of Thad Castle. My fandom has only grown as he gets more prominent roles and continues publicly eviscerating people like Matt Gaetz. Play on, playa."
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"Alan Ritchson and Dave Bautista are like the opposite of toxic masculinity."
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"Many MAGA guys hate Alan Ritchson because he is all of their masculine fantasies, is a devout christian who runs his own faith based youtube channel, is married with children and successful, and basically stone cold proof you can do all those things and still be broadly liked lol"
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"MAGA minds are melting over Reacher actor Alan Ritchson’s scathing comments about Trump in an interview in The Hollywood Reporter: 'Trump is a rap*s.t and a con man, and yet the entire Christian church seems to treat him like he’s their poster child and it’s unreal. I don’t understand it.'”
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"Alan Ritchson's the kind of guy you're leery about possibly having right-wing beliefs, but he keeps surprising you in the best ways."
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