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Matt Gaetz demands hurricane aid for Florida after voting against it

Last week, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) voted against a government funding measure that contained $18.8 billion in federal disaster aid for natural disasters, including Hurricane Ian, which just ravaged his home state. Gaetz was one of 15 Florida lawmakers who voted against it.
On Sunday, Gaetz went to Twitter to ask for government assistance for “my fellow Florida Man in grave need of assistance.” His tweet said, “Just send us like half of what you sent Ukraine,” a reference to the money that the U.S. has donated to help Ukraine fight off Russia’s ongoing invasion.
Various Twitter users called him a hypocrite for his tweet, but his key audience is likely people who don’t know about his vote or those who oppose the United States’ involvement in a foreign conflict, even if checking Russia’s aggression helps aid U.S. interests in Europe.
The continuing resolution that Gaetz voted against made money available from Federal Emergency Management Agency’s disaster relief fund for states dealing with costly natural disasters. It also contained $12 billion to aid Ukraine. Both of Florida’s Republican senators, Rick Scott and Marco Rubio, also didn’t vote in favor of the resolution.
On his podcast last Friday, Gaetz said Democrats had rammed the resolution without going through the committee process, effectively cutting out Republicans from being able to add or remove funding from it.
The hurricane killed about 68 Floridians, caused at least $55 billion in damages, and has left 600,000 homes in Florida without power.
Dear Congress:
On behalf of my fellow Florida Man in grave need of assistance….
Just send us like half of what you sent Ukraine.
Signed,
Your Fellow Americans
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) October 2, 2022
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