My personal opinion is that Matt Gaetz and Donald Trump have led the GOP to abandon any pretense of long claimed high moral ground with regard to predatory sex, oppressive money, abuse of power, and flagrant disregard of truth (not to mention evading accountability).
For Matt Gaetz to argue that not being a monk, married, or aware of the age of his very young sex victim is way beyond disingenuous. I would not be at all surprised if he believes he's covered by Trump's "leadership" in these areas. To be sure, they are not alone (and liberals are not exempt), but their public roles are much more than a social barometer of moral climate, they are more like pollution changing the climate negatively.
I don't actually think Trump et al have any right to call themselves "conservative." My sense is that he is a shrewd conartist usurping "conservative" slogans to hide that he has no principles except his ego.
