Did politician Matt Gaetz post on X about "momentary lapses of judgement from decades ago" in relation to "prepubescent girls" and the "Epstein files"? No, that's not true: A viral screenshot of such a post originated on a Reddit subforum ironically named "TOTALLYREALTWEETS". It was posted by a user whose bio read "fake tweet writer" and the text in the screenshot did not appear on Gaetz's actual X account.
The screenshot originated in post on Reddit (archived here) where it was published on July 14, 2025 under a title that read "Matt toes the Trump line on the Epstein files". The text in the image read:
Momentary lapses in judgment from decades ago should not ruin the careers and reputations of the modern world's biggest movers and shakers. Attraction to newly pubescent girls is perfectly healthy and natural. Bury the Epstein files and let these men move on with their lives
This is the image in question:
(Image source: Reddit post by u/SOYBOYPILLED on Reddit)
The bio of the user who posted the image (archived here) read:
Dipshit fake tweet writer for r/totallyrealtweets
watchdominion.org
A search of Gaetz's x.com account did not return any posts that contained the word "momentary" (archived here). Neither did a Google search for that word limited to urls on Gaetz's x.com account (archived here), indicating he never posted anything with that word in it.
