Trumpworld seems to be synonymous with mega MAGA makeovers, and Matt Gaetz certainly falls into the category of obvious cosmetic work. The thing that really has us doing a double take, though? His mugshot.
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It’s hardly untold that Gaetz had a run-in with the law back in 2008, but on the off chance you needed a reminder, he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence. At the time, he was 26, so it’s not exactly unsurprising that he looks a little different in his forties. However, there is something to be said for the fact that Matt actually has fewer expression lines on his face today than he did at the time of his arrest. In fact, in his appearance at the 2024 Republican National Convention, his face looked almost completely frozen, with his eyebrows flaring upwards at the outside edges. This, compared to his mugshot lewk, where the upper edges of his brows were slightly raised but fairly heavy and set in a straighter line overall.
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Speaking exclusively to Nicki Swift, Board Certified Cosmetic Dermatologist Dr. Mariano Busso attributed Gaetz’s shocking transformation to a whole lot of injectables. As for the brows more specifically, he explained, “Botox was performed very heavily on the center of his forehead, resulting in a drop of his central eyebrows … The lateral aspect of the eyebrows was left with movement, giving that ‘Mr. Spock’ look with pointy lateral eyebrows.” That explains it, then. Well, explains from a scientific point of view, anyway. The GOP star’s decision to go overboard with the cosmetic procedures, not so much.
Matt Gaetz has a history of shaming women for their appearances
Listen, everyone is entitled to do with their bodies what they will, and if a little (well, a lot, but you get the point) ‘tox makes Matt Gaetz feel more confident, power to him. However, it is pretty funny that someone who has gone to great lengths to insult women over their appearances seems to have shown his injector a pic of “LazyTown” villain Robbie Rotten as inspo.
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For starters, one of Gaetz’ former university friends told The Atlantic that he’d had a field day after noticing one of the women on the debate team had peach fuzz, and taunted her behind her back incessantly afterwards. More famously, though, there were also the times he had cruel words for pro-choice activists. As a brief refresher, Gaetz had been at a 2022 Turning Point USA Student Action Summit when he lamented, “Why is it that the women with the least likelihood of getting pregnant are the ones most worried about having abortions?” (via MSNBC). In response to backlash, he doubled down. Asked point-blank what he had to say about people being offended by the sentiment, his response to a reporter was, “Be offended” (via X). Around the same time, he also body-shamed a teenage girl who responded to his taunts, posting a screenshot of her X profile picture in a post to the platform.
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It’s pretty clear Robbie Rotten Gaetz’ extensive cosmetic work stems from insecurity, and like we said, that’s valid. It’s just a pity that he seems to be incapable of treating others with kindness when like all cartoon villains, it couldn’t be more evident that he would have benefitted from more hugs growing up. At the very least, he’s managed to distance himself from his mugshot, if only because he looks so different now.