‘Reacher’ star Alan Ritchson on school classmate Matt Gaetz: “We are adversaries”
Reacher actor Alan Ritchson has revealed that he went to school with the highly controversial Republican politician Matt Gaetz, calling him a “motherfucker.”
Ritchson, who is known for his leading role in the Amazon Prime series Reacher, spoke to GQ about Gaetz, stating, “We are adversaries.” While Ritchson has openly spoken up about his disdain for Donald Trump and the issues facing the Catholic Church – once expressing his disappointment that so many people of his faith are Republican – Gaetz is staunchly in favour of the current US President.
Gaetz was a member of the US House of Representatives for Florida’s 1st district between 2017 and 2024. Alongside loudly supporting Trump, he has also been accused of various crimes, including child sex trafficking and rape, but he has not been convicted. However, he has separately been accused of paying for sex from a 17-year-old girl.
They might have gone to school together at Niceville High School in Florida, but the actor insists they have contrasting views.
Ritchson explained, “It’s shocking to me that the panhandle of Florida continues to vote for somebody — knowing everything we know about him and the promises that he’s made behind closed doors about pardoning certain criminals — he’s just not a good dude!”
The actor also shared his interest in politics: “There’s part of me that wants to get into politics to outdo somebody like him for good, and there’s part of me that’s like, I’m not duplicitous enough to succeed in politics.”
Ritchson added, “There are certain people that do a good job of staying true to who they are, but they’re ineffective. I think Bernie Sanders is a hero. But it’s like, what has he accomplished?”
The first three episodes of the third series of Reacher are currently streaming now on Prime Video.
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