Trump is hanging Matt Gaetz out to dry after 'train wreck' Fox News interview: report

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) spent four years relentlessly defending former President Donald Trump as he careened through multiple scandals -- but that fierce loyalty is not being reciprocated.

Politico reports that Trump and his family have been completely silent about Gaetz's reported legal problems, as many view him as "a grenade whose pin had already been pulled."

Gaetz is reportedly being investigated by federal law enforcement officials on potential sex trafficking charges involving a 17-year-old girl, and sources within Trump's orbit tell Politico that no one is surprised that the Florida lawmaker has been caught up in a web of alleged illegal activity.

"Anyone that has ever spent 10 minutes with the guy would realize he's an unserious person," a former Trump campaign aide explained.

Although Trump has regularly defended Republicans accused of sexual misconduct, including failed Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, he has apparently stayed away from Gaetz in the wake of his disastrous interview with Fox News' Tucker Carlson.

"The reason you haven't seen people in MAGA world defending Gaetz is less about him being unpopular, which he is in a lot of circles, and more about the fact that he hasn't done a single thing to make people comfortable to defend him," one Trump confidant explained. "His interview with Tucker was an absolutely embarrassing train wreck."