Matt Gaetz made waves Friday as he welcomed former rep George Santos to his new show – spawning some negative social media comments about similarities between the two.
The pair of disgraced politicians used the primetime slot to swap beauty secrets, after Gaetz raised eyebrows – no pun intended – a day before with his startling, decidedly different appearance during the show’s premiere.
Discourse immediately arose over what he framed as unflattering makeup, and what others insisted was evidence of plastic surgery.
Three plastic surgeons who spoke to DailyMail.com after the appearance said they thought Gaetz, 42, showed signs of Botox use, months after ‘Daily Show’ correspondent Desi Lydic surfaced to claim the same.
The speculation paved the way for some timely insight from Santos, who himself drew fire in 2023 after a House investigation showed he spent campaign funds on things like cosmetics, clothes, OnlyFans subscriptions, and – what else? – Botox.
He was expelled from Congress later that year – a fate that could possibly have awaited the representative for Florida‘s 1st congressional district as well if he hadn’t resigned.
The observation that Gaetz may have followed suit in the cosmetic sense was rife on social media after episode one, and would even be echoed by a playful Santos, 36, during day two.
The disgraced New York rep told his he was ‘concerned’ when he saw image of Gaetz on the controversial right-wing One America News Network (OAN), with some arched eyebrows and a waxy face that saw some comparing him to a cartoon villain.
Matt Gaetz made waves Friday as he welcomed former rep George Santos to his new show – spawning some negative social media comments about similarities between the two
The pair of disgraced politicians used the primetime slot to swap beauty secrets, after Gaetz raised eyebrows – no pun intended – a day before with his startling, decidedly different appearance during the show’s premiere (seen here)
‘I thought you had botched Botox or something,’ Santos said, hours after asking a federal judge to delay sentencing in his federal fraud case. He added how he had been ‘concerned’.
‘What was going on with my makeup?’ Gaetz asked at another point, seemingly eager to hear from someone known for their former drag persona ‘Kitara’.
‘Help me, give me advice.’
Santos, seemingly relishing the chance to offer some cosmetic secrets, quickly obliged.
‘Let me tell you something, highlighter is not for you,’ he said, before onlookers took to X to lampoon the pair for their political and aesthetic similarities.
‘Stop highlighting the center of your face. It makes your eyes very small, and it gives you the glow – not the glow you think it gives you,’ Santos continued, after pleading guilty to federal fraud, campaign finance and embezzlement charges in the summer.
Gaetz – who had tapped to take the position of Donald Trump’s attorney general before it emerged he was the subject of since-concluded House Ethics Committee probe that found he repeatedly paid for sex while in Congress – offered an answer.
‘But I have deep-set eyes, George… How do I fix the deep-set eyes?’ he asked, after some commenters compared him to a Who from Whoville, a la Dr. Seuss’s famed Christmas tale.
Discourse immediately arose over what he framed as unflattering makeup, and what others insisted was evidence of plastic surgery, The speculation paved the way for some timely insight from Santos, who himself drew fire in 2023 after spending campaign funds on Botox
Santos, a lover of fashion and all things designer, responded by telling his fellow conservative he needed to go out an buy some ‘double-wear foundation from Estée Lauder’ if he wants to avoid more misconceptions over his mug.
‘Look at the flawlessness in my skin. No highlighter needed!’ he proclaimed at another point.
‘You’re a Florida man. I’m in Florida right now. When you’re tan and you’re a Florida man, you don’t need that level of highlighter’
Santos, a serial scammer whose seemingly never-ending scandals saw him voted out of office, presented the words as ‘honest advice.’
Onlookers online – again – were not so kind, poking fun at the pair relentlessly in what amounted to a bipartisan beatdown.
‘Is he also teaching Matt how to cross dress?’ sniped one person, in a tweet that’s since been viewed about 8,000 times.
‘The MAGA flex is ridiculous. Both these guys should be in prison,’ added another, as someone else joked. ‘It’s interesting they didn’t give each other crime tips.’
‘Both should be in jail,’ a third person said – an assertion echoed by several others.
Onlookers online – again – were not so kind, poking fun at the pair relentlessly in what amounted to a bipartisan beatdown of the disgraced conservatives
‘OAN spends about $36.50 per episode so they probably can’t afford a makeup artist. I get it,’ slammed someone else, amid other insults depicting the two as ‘clowns’ and the on-air display as ‘rock bottom.’
Gaetz – as the conversation had suggested – has never owned up to undergoing plastic or cosmetic surgery, despite a recent, relatively different appearance.
Among those to pick up on it was Daily Show correspondent Lydic, who used her platform in November to satirically state the rep underwent his alleged plastic surgeries ‘to trick 16-year-old girls into getting dinner with him’.
‘Hey guys, it’s Desi, your resident beauty analyst, back again to talk about the plastic surgery trends in Republican congressmen. Today we’re going to be covering Matt Gaetz,’ Lydic began the video, which was 80 seconds long.
‘Now, I want to remind you guys, there’s no moral judgement on my page. People get plastic surgery for different reasons. Sometimes it’s medical, and sometimes it’s so you can trick 16-year-old girls into getting dinner with you.
‘Again, no judgement, all love.
‘So Matt showed up on the House floor looking absolutely incredible last week, like in this picture,’ Lydic went on, showing a side-by-side of a years-old picture on the left and present day Gaetz on the right.
‘But if you look at his other picture from a few years back, it looks like he’s had significant Botox and maybe some filler.
Back in November, ‘Daily Show’ correspondent Desi Lydic recorded a video honing in on the congressman’s seemingly different appearance, joking how he underwent his alleged plastic surgeries ‘to trick 16-year-old girls into getting dinner with him’
Gaetz – pictured above in his official image for Congress (left) and during his appearance for his new show Friday night – has not confirmed any cosmetic surgeries
‘Again, the reasons for this could vary. It could be a health thing – or it could be because he got tired of high school girls accurately guessing his age on dating apps,’ she disclaimed, before lampooning the failed politician for his appearance further.
‘Now, it looks like he had a nose job because the bridge is slimmer and smoother. The surgeon here did a really good job, because Matt still looks like himself but more of a predator, if that’s possible.
‘I’d also guess that he’s had an upper bleph combined with a brow lift, which makes his face look way more symmetrical and way more likely to defund Planned Parenthood.
‘I want to remind you guys that these are just my personal opinions, I am not his injector or plastic surgeon or even a junior varsity athlete he tried to take on a date.
‘And again, this is Matt’s body, so it’s his choice what he does with it – something he doesn’t believe in when it comes to pregnant people,’ Lydic concluded, before offering one last shot at the former congressman.
‘Follow me for more beauty, Botox, skincare and plastic surgery education — unless you’re Matt Gaetz, in which case stop following me, it’s creeping me out. I am way too old for you.’
On Friday, Dr Christopher Costa, a plastic surgeon in Las Vegas, agreed, telling DailyMail.com: ‘What it does look like to me is that he has been almost over-treated with neurotoxins, things like Botox.
‘With your standard neurotoxin treatment, your goal is to soften the lines but still have facial expression and still be able to move the face.
Speaking to Santos, he chalked it up to some bad makeup, paving the way for some advice
Hours earlier, Santos, after pleading guilty over the summer, asked a federal judge to delay sentencing in his federal fraud case. Currently, it’s slated for next month
‘In his case, it looks almost like he has been double-dosed, like these patients that come in and say, “I want you to freeze my face,”‘ he concluded.
Dr Michael Persky, a plastic surgeon in California, and Dr Paul Rosenberg, who is based in New Jersey, both ageed. ‘He has had Botox… and, quite honestly, injected not in the most professional way, because he manifests what we call the ‘Spock appearance’.
‘So when he raises his eyebrows to look animated… everything is frozen except the center of the brow, which causes his brows to go up artificially.’
Gaetz – who has denied all allegations of sexual misconduct – has not indicated that he has undergone such surgeries. His new show, The Matt Gaetz Show, airs weeknights on primetime.
