Who Is Rick Gates? Trump Mistakenly Refers To Matt Gaetz By Different Name

During President Trump’s rally in Ocala, Florida, mixed up the name of one of his loyal supporters, Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz’s name with Rick Gates.

Rick Gates is actually the former Trump aide who pled guilty to conspiracy against the United State related to Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election.

The folks on Twitter appeared to have some fun with the mix-up and proceeded to mock Trump over the mistake.

“Trump is really losing his marbles in Florida. Calling Matt Gaetz, ‘Rick Gates’ twice, looking at him and not correcting himself. Rick Gates is obviously stuck in his head. Gates witnessed Trump conspiring w/ Wikileaks/GRU while on the phone with Roger Stone,” one person tweeted.

Another person added, “In the same speech in which he has mocked Biden for making verbal slips, Trump has called hypersonic weapons ‘hydrosonic,’ referred to some combo of Rick Scott and Matt Gaetz as ‘Rick Gates,’ and mentioned the Obama-era crisis in ‘Henderson’ before correcting to Ferguson.”

Meanwhile, one person appeared to suggest that Trump may have leaked the name of a future accomplice.

“Anyone else wonder why Trump couldn’t stop thinking about *Rick Gates* while he was campaigning in Florida? Seems like a name that shouldn't be on his mind days from an election, as he’s standing next to a longtime ally whose first *and* last name are spelled wholly differently?” one person wrote.

By the end of the rally, Trump was eventually able to get the congressman’s name right.

“So, I just want to thank everybody, and we do have some special people. Uhh, Matt, stand up. Come here, I just want to tell you something. This guy, Matt Gaetz. So, Matt’s been another one of our stars,” he said.

Despite the mix-up, Gaetz remained enthusiastic throughout the rally and received cheers from the crowd.