Mike Pence’s chief of staff Marc Short has accused Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) of child sex trafficking on live TV.
The allegation comes amid a major escalation between two warring factions in the Republican Party.
The two sides have been endorsing different candidates in races across the country.
Last week, Pence was in Arizona to support his candidate in the GOP gubernatorial primary while Trump held a rally to support his preferred candidate.
Short was not happy when Gaetz said in a Turning Point USA Student Action Summit: “On that note, let me just say what everybody here knows: Mike Pence will never be president.
“Nice guy. Not a leader.”
CNN host Erin Burnett asked Short about Gaetz’s comment.
“Well, I don’t know if Mike Pence will run for president in 2024, but I don’t think Matt Gaetz will have an impact on that,” Short responded.
“In fact, I’d be surprised if he was still voting, it’s more likely he’ll be in prison for child sex trafficking by 2024.
“And I’m actually surprised that Florida law enforcement still allows him to speak to teenage conferences like that, so I’m not too worried about Matt Gaetz,” he said.
WATCH:
BREAKING: Mike Pence chief of staff Marc Short accuses Matt Gaetz of child sex trafficking pic.twitter.com/1uMRVtJ9xx
— Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) July 26, 2022
Short served as chief of staff to Pence for nearly two years and was in that role on the day of the Capitol riot, which is being investigated by the Justice Department as well as a select House committee, according to The Hill.
Gaetz has denied the sex trafficking allegations, and no charges have been filed against him.
The New York Times first reported the existence of the federal investigation into Gaetz in March 2021.
