Mullin slams Gaetz: ‘Living off your daddy’s money’

Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), who challenged a Teamsters boss to a fight last month, on Thursday slammed Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) for “living off” his “daddy’s money” after Gaetz cited Mullin’s increase in wealth as a reason to ban members of Congress from trading stocks.

“I hear @RepMattGaetz has criticism of hard-earned success — he should try building a business that gains value, it’s more gratifying than living off your daddy’s money,” Mullin posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

Mullin was reacting to a graphic Gaetz reposted that showed Mullin’s net worth swelled from $12 million in 2018, when he was a House member, to $63 million in 2022, despite earning a $174,000 salary in Congress.

“We should pass a ban on trading stocks!” Gaetz said in his post, citing Mullin’s rise in wealth.

Gaetz also defended his post after Mullin’s comment.

“The only thing I criticized were your stock trades while a member of Congress. I want to ban those trades. You cashed in and made millions,” Gaetz wrote.

Mullin’s stock trades have attracted some attention online.

Capitol Trades pointed out that Mullin bought between $15,000 and $50,000 in Raytheon Technologies stock through a joint account on Sept. 13, noting that company’s stocks have risen 6 percent since the Oct. 7 attack on Israeli civilians outside of the Gaza Strip.