Florida Republican Representative Shows Off Cuban Man He Claims Is His Stepson
During a recent hearing, Representative Matt Gaetz, of Florida, was called out for not knowing the experience of raising a child of color. The comment came from Representative Cedric Richmond, of Louisiana, while debating the Justice in Policing Act. The comment made Rep. Gaetz do something bizarre on social media.
Rep. Matt Gaetz wants everyone to know that he understands what it is like raising a child of color.
Recently, the House of Representatives held a hearing for the Justice in Policing Act. The act would ban chokeholds, create a misconduct registry, and mandate training against racial profiling, among other changes to national policy.
During the debate, Rep. Cedric Richmond, of Louisiana, called out his Republican colleagues. Rep. Richmond claimed that the Republicans debating the bill were not in a good position to fully understand the enormity of the legislation.
“As a black male who went to a fifth-best public high school in the country, who was a victim of excessive force, who has a black son, who has worries that you all don’t,” Richmond said. “Please do not come in this committee room and make a mockery of the pain that exists in my community.”
The sudden disclosure of a Cuban child that Rep. Gaetz lives with bothers some people.
Rep. Gaetz has not spoken about Nestor Galban as someone personally connected to the congressman. The sudden introduction of Galban as someone that is so closely connected to Rep. Gaetz feels opportunistic and questionable to people.
“You’re claiming you have more concern for my family than I do? Who in the hell do you think you are? This is outrageous,” Rep. Gaetz retorted to Rep. Richmond.
Rep. Gaetz’s tweet does not claim to have adopted Galban but he does that he is his life.
Adoptions from Cuba to the U.S. are very rare. Most adoption attempts from the U.S. of Cuban nationals are often unsuccessful so it does not seem that Rep. Gaetz adopted Galban.
American citizens have been protesting for weeks against police brutality. The protesters are demanding a change to police policies. These policies overwhelming affect Black and brown communities. The deadly trend of police brutality has devastated these communities for decades.
That is what Rep. Richmond was saying. Some people will never fully understand the constant fear of police taking your life or the life of your loved ones. Claiming that you understand the lived experience of a community under attack does a lot of undermind their fight.
Galban has been connected to Rep. Gaetz, but never as someone close to him.
Rep. Gaetz and Galban have been in the same photo before. Every time the congressman has been near the young boy, it was usually a photo-op, like the one above. It is unclear why Rep. Gaetz kept this a secret for so long and chose to release the information as a rebuke to a colleague’s remarks.
In the end, people are upset that Rep. Gaetz would use Galban as a political prop.
Americans are demanding change from their government. The people want to see meaningful and necessary police reform to help keep communities safe.
