RAWSTORY+ EXCLUSIVES

'Mentally ill lunacy': Matt Gaetz thinks NSA is spying on him because of his 'whiteness'

ALSO READ: Trump DOJ poised to dramatically expand Texas 'antifa' prosecution

'Mentally ill lunacy': Matt Gaetz thinks NSA is spying on him because of his 'whiteness'
Rep. Matt Gaetz. (Facebook photo)

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) suggested the NSA could be targeting people like him for being white.

During his Thursday Firebrand podcast, Gaetz expressed outrage after conservative media outlet The Daily Wire claimed to have obtained a leaked NSA glossary of terms, including "whiteness" and "white supremacy."

"This glossary and its definitions provide a starting point for engaging in open and honest conversation, and is a tool meant to build a shared language of understanding," the document states.

"Wow," Gaetz said. "No group of humans in all of human history has ever been without a series of pretty bad actions, right? You get a group of humans together for long enough, we do bad things to one another. That goes back to biblical times."

"But white people have built some of the most durable and inclusive civilizations that have ever existed," he continued. "And, of course, mistakes have been made along the way."

ALSO READ: What is Trump planning if he gets a second term? Be worried. Be really worried.

Gaetz wondered why the NSA would be "cataloging and promoting any of this hysterical, mentally ill lunacy."

"Imagine the NSA intercepting your text messages and flagging any material deemed to support extremist beliefs like, there are only two genders, or men can't be misogynist to other men, or I'm not sorry that my ancestors created Western civilization," he remarked.

Watch the video from Firebrand below or at this link.

For customer support contact support@rawstory.com. Report typos and corrections to corrections@rawstory.com.

Trump's own officials beg him to reverse course on 'absolutely stunning' nuke announcement

President Donald Trump's own officials are reportedly begging him to reverse course over his suggestion to ramp up explosive nuclear testing, according to reports on Friday.

CNN's Betsy Klein told CNN anchor Brianna Keilar that top energy and nuclear officials are planning to meet at the White House in the coming days in an attempt to dissuade President Trump from resuming testing of the nation's nuclear weapons.

"Well, Brianna, you might remember that absolutely stunning announcement from President Trump on social media just moments before he was set to meet with China's leader, Xi Jinping in Asia just a couple of weeks ago, that he was directing the Pentagon to immediately begin testing of U.S. nuclear weapons on an equal basis. And that would mark a major shift in U.S. policy," Klein said.

The U.S. has not tested nuclear weapons since about 1992, during the Clinton administration.

"The U.S. does today, however, test every part of its nuclear weapons systems except for the explosive material in those nuclear weapons, Trump recently told '60 Minutes' when asked about this that he was doing so because Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, had announced that Russia had successfully tested a Poseidon nuclear torpedo, and he said, 'I don't want to be the only country that doesn't test.' But now we are learning that top energy and nuclear officials are set to brief the White House and the National Security Council in the coming days and attempt to steer the president away from this," Klein explained.

Trump was slated to arrive in Florida on Friday. Ultimately, the testing would be his decision, she added.

"Two sources familiar with the matter say that Energy Secretary Chris Wright, along with the National Nuclear Security Administration leader Brandon Williams, as well as officials from the U.S. National Laboratories, are planning to inform the White House in this meeting that they do not think that blowing up weapons for nuclear testing is a tenable strategy," Klein said.

"These officials, according to one source, are prepared to tell the Trump administration that there's not going to be any testing and attempt to steer the White House into what they feel is a more workable plan, according to these sources, that doesn't involve blowing anything up. But a White House official noted that all testing remains on the table," she said.

THANKS FOR SUBSCRIBING! ALL ADS REMOVED!

FBI officially throws cold water on right-wing 'bombshell'

NBC News reports the FBI threw cold water on a popular right-wing conspiracy that a former Capitol Police officer was a potential match for the suspect who planted pipe bombs at the Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee before the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

“In a letter to a Republican congressman who leads a new committee investigating Jan. 6, the FBI explained that it had been tracking a separate person of interest who took photos near the RNC on Jan. 5 and then took the Metro back to his friend's home, where he was staying to attend a Jan. 6 rally,” NBC reports. “The FBI said it had focused on the home because the person taking the photos used the homeowner's SmartTrip card on the Metro.”

That congressman, Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), posted a section of the letter on X.

The homeowner happened to be a neighbor of a former Capitol Police officer named as a potential suspect on the conservative news site, The Blaze. The Blaze went so far as to post a "gait analysis" claiming to have found a 94 percent match between the officer and the pipe bomb suspect.

Loyalists of President Donald Trump seized upon the "bombshell" report, including Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), who wrote on X that “a Capitol Police officer placed a pipe bomb at the RNC on J6.” Luna added that the Blaze story was proof that Republicans would “all be in the gulag” if it wasn't forTrump.

NBC reports that even Loudermilk promoted the premature Blaze article, and he now heads a new select subcommittee that aims to neutralize the findings of the Jan. 6 committee that operated during the Biden administration.

But now FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino is having to personally put out The Blaze’s viral fire, posting Thursday that reporting about “prior persons of interest is grossly inaccurate and serves only to mislead the public.”

In the same post, Bongino admitted that he “has yet to produce a break through” despite “a week of near 24-hour work on RECENT open source leads.”

Meanwhile, an attorney representing the so-called "Blaze bomber" Shauni Kerkhoff is already telling the Washington Post that his client is prepared to push back against "shameful allegations [that] are recklessly false, absurd, and defamatory.

"The former Capitol Police officer identified in conservative media as a potential Jan. 6th pipe bomb suspect has lawyered up," posted Bulwark reporter Will Sommer on X.

Read the NBC News report at this link.

Dire scenarios where Trump stays in power outlined by alarmed senator

One of Capitol Hill’s most prominent — and most vocal — Democrats is warning about what he says are the ways President Donald Trump could try to remain in power beyond his current term.

Trump has long hinted that he is interested in a third term, and even has had red “Trump 2028” caps as part of his merchandise offering. And while he recently appeared to put to rest questions about a third term — prohibited under a plain reading of the U.S. Constitution — by saying he has been told he cannot run, doubts among some still linger.

U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) on Friday shared what he suggested were possible ways Trump could try to stay in power past 2028 — and warned he thinks it’s possible that he will.

“I think he is right now trying to scheme a way to be able to stay,” Murphy told The Bulwark’s Sam Stein at the 2025 Texas Tribune Festival.

READ MORE: ‘Retribution’: Trump Calls for Epstein Inquiry Into Democrats

“I think you have a potential, two potential Supreme Court vacancies coming up,” Murphy noted, “and it may be very important for him to install folks on the Supreme Court who may be willing to entertain radical ideas about the restrictions on the Constitution, about a third term.”

Murphy continued with an alternative theory, suggesting that Trump “may just be interested in installing Donald Trump Jr. or another family member in the White House.”

But then the Connecticut Democrat served up a warning.

“Whatever he’s planning on doing, he can’t get away with it unless he destroys the ability of the people to speak their mind in elections because he and his party are going to lose in 2026 and 2028 unless he’s successful in rigging the election,” Murphy declared.

He vowed, “We’re going to do everything in our power, and we need to order all of our advocacy in the United States Senate and the House to stop him from doing it.”

READ MORE: ‘Mask Comes Off’: Trump Branded an ‘Elitist’ as Base Scrutinizes ‘America First’ Focus

Murphy continued with his warnings.

“I don’t think anybody with ambition right now should be planning on running for president in 2028 because we may not have a free and fair election in 2028,” Murphy declared. “We all have to be in the business of saving our democracy right now.”

“I do think we have to, all of us,” he added, “be traveling the entire country, whether it be an early primary state or not, to build this political resistance movement.”

READ MORE: Trump Stumbles Over ‘God Bless America’ Lyrics at Veterans Day Ceremony

Copyright © 2025 Raw Story Media, Inc. PO Box 21050, Washington, D.C. 20009 | Masthead | Privacy Policy | Manage Preferences | Debug Logs
For corrections contact corrections@rawstory.com , for support contact support@rawstory.com .

{{ post.roar_specific_data.api_data.analytics }}