Matt Gaetz has joined the celebrity video platform Cameo days after he withdrew his name from consideration to serve as Donald Trump’s attorney general.
The president-elect chose former Florida congressman Mr Gaetz for the role despite him facing sex trafficking allegations.
But he removed himself from the running for the country’s top legal official on Friday, saying his selection was “unfairly becoming a distraction” to the transition of Mr Trump’s administration into the White House.
A day later, Mr Gaetz signed up to Cameo, where he has been charging fans $550 (£438) for videos of him giving career pep talks, holiday wishes and marriage congratulations.
The biography on his Cameo page reads: “I served in Congress. Trump nominated me to be US Attorney General (that didn’t work out).”
The 42-year-old has garnered 12 reviews from customers so far – all rating his services five stars.
In one of his videos, he congratulated a recipient for making partner at their law firm and said: “Look, I know your politics and mine may not align specifically, but you know, our career trajectories might not be either.
“I mean, here you are making partner, and my legal career took a little bit of a different turn this last week,” he said.
“But you know what? Work hard, get paid a lot of money, do a lot of great things as a practitioner and counsellor at law, and you know, you never know. You could be an attorney general nominee, too.”
Read more:
The details of allegations against Gaetz (and two other Trump picks)
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Other videos feature Mr Gaetz thanking his recipients for “backing president Trump and all of our efforts to save the country” and being “there for MAGA”.
He also roasted one recipient for “betting on things like… Kamala Harris to be the president of the United States. You got to get better habits for that – bet on Trump.”
Mr Gaetz previously faced a nearly three-year Justice Department investigation into sex trafficking allegations involving a 17-year-old girl, which ended in February 2023 without him facing any criminal charges.
He has also been under scrutiny by the House Ethics Committee over wider allegations including sexual misconduct, illicit drug use and accepting improper gifts.
He has always denied all allegations against him.
Mr Trump chose longstanding ally Pam Bondi as his replacement, who was one of his lawyers at his first impeachment trial.
