SUNDOWNER MOMENT: At his Florida Rally, Donald Trump Repeatedly Calls Rep. Matt Gaetz 'Rick Gates', the Name of His Convicted Former Aide

President Donald Trump has a penchant for calling out the names of key supporters at his campaign events, and a Friday rally in Ocala, Florida was no different — but he badly botched the name of one of his most vocal fans in Congress, mixing up Rep. Matt Gaetz’s name with that of Rick Gates, a former Trump aide who pled guilty to crimes related to Russian interference in the 2016 election and pro-Putin efforts in Ukraine.

The Florida congressman has been a strong supporter of the president since the 2016 GOP primary. Gaetz’s Twitter profile even includes a Trump quote about him: “He’s a machine…handsome and going places.”

Gates, on the other hand, was nowhere near Ocala on Friday. Trump’s former campaign deputy is one of at least six convicted felons associated with the 2016 Trump campaign, having pled guilty for crimes related to assisting former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort with his financial crimes. Gates was sentenced to 45 days in jail, 3 years of probation, a $20,000 fine, and 300 hours of community service, a reduced sentence due to his testimony against Manafort and cooperation with the Mueller investigation. Due to the pandemic, Gates’ prison sentence has been temporarily suspended by court order.

“Can it ever be, like, Rick Gates’ fault?” Trump continued, as he pointed to Gaetz, who was near the stage to Trump’s left. “I mean, eh? It’s always Trump’s fault, Rick.”

Trump looked over at Gaetz again and asked how Gov. Ron DeSantis, who had spoken at the rally earlier, had done, as the crowd cheered. “Good governor, good guy too. Good guy too, right over here,” he said, again pointing at Gaetz.

The president then launched into a short riff ranting about “shameless, wealthy, liberal hypocrites in Washington, D.C. and Silicon Valley,” saying that he didn’t “want their money” and didn’t call them and didn’t want to help them, again addressing Gaetz — but still referring to him as “Rick.”

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