It’s evident to just about anyone that salacious accusations against Panhandle Republican Matt Gaetz won’t tarnish his reputation with the hard-right base. That may be, in part, because of a willingness to cheer on the most prominent White nationalist voices, something Gaetz made as clear as ever during a speech this weekend in Arizona.

As a featured guest at the Turning Point US AmericaFest, the Congressman walked on stage surrounded by pyrotechnics and heavy metal soundtrack. While there, he dismissed any pretense of statesmanship

During his speech, Gaetz espoused more extreme rhetoric, a mix of pandemic era economic anxiety and conspiracy theories asserting (baselessly) that Joe Biden stole the 2020 election from Donald Trump.

“We live in a world today where the left has seized unconstitutional power through mandates,” Gaetz said, “driving people from their jobs, destroying the American dollar, shattering our economy, stealing elections.”

Then the Congressman leaned straight into racial animus.

“They openly campaign for racial reparations and bigoted policies that target White people,” Gaetz declared. “Let’s not prove our valor by enduring pain. I’d like to start dishing it out. Less fortitude, more attitude.”

This foray deeper into extremism on the far right comes as federal investigators in Central Florida continue to collect information from former Seminole County Tax Collector Joel Greenberg, a Gaetz associate who already pled guilty to a charge of sex trafficking a minor.

Accusations had dogged Gaetz most of the year that he too could face charges regarding trafficking a woman before she turned 18 across state lines for the purposes of sex.

But while institutions like cable news initially blanched at continuing to offer the firebrand a national spotlight, he’s found embrace among groups like TPUSA, led by part-time Longboat Key resident Charlie Kirk and famed for evoking emotion among young conservatives on college campuses.

It’s unclear if the fanboy enthusiasm for Gaetz will insulate him in any way from criminal charges. Notably, Gaetz maintains he never had sex as an adult with a minor and blames the accusations on an attempted extortion plot against his wealthy Panhandle family.

Stephen Alford of Fort Walton Beach was indicted for attempting to defraud a victim of $25 million.

Despite that, Gaetz managed to maintain a level of political prominence. He recently spoke at a Sarasota rally for former President Donald Trump (despite some politicians being unwilling to share the stage) and garnered huge applause. The same enthusiasm greeted the Congressman at TPUSA.

The fervor among supporters appears to grow as Gaetz embraces further extremism, including arguing for leniency and better jail conditions for those convicted or awaiting charges for the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Gaetz also tweeted that Fox News host Tucker Carlson was “correct” about replacement theory, a belief by White nationalists that White men are being replaced in society by immigrants and minorities. The idea gained particular prominence when White nationalists marched in Charlottesville, Virginia, chanting, “Jews will not replace us.”

.@TuckerCarlson is CORRECT about Replacement Theory as he explains what is happening to America.

The ADL is a racist organization. https://t.co/32Vu60HrJK
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) September 25, 2021

But Gaetz denies race is a part of his message.

“The Left/Media think of replacement solely on race/ethnicity terms. I don’t at all,” he tweeted in September. “Democrats failed the voters who relied on them to run their states/cities. Now they are importing new voters. That is my argument. Those reading more into it are projecting their own bias.”

This article was first published at Florida Politics.