Meet Nestor: Did Republican Congressman Take Son Out of the Closet to Score Political Points?

Thursday afternoon Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz of Florida wanted the world to meet Nestor.

"Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz wants the world to know about his large adult son, Nestor, whose announcement is now a Twitter copypasta," wrote wrote Mashable.

"It is unclear whether Gaetz has legal guardianship over Nestor, or whether he ever formally adopted him. In a video from December 2017, he refers to Nestor as his 'helper,'" writes Mashable, adding that while Gaetz mentions his dog by name on his website (before Thursday), there was no mention of Nestor.

What prompted Gaetz to bring Nestor out of the closet was a heated argument on Wednesday he had with Democratic representative Cedric Richmond (from Louisiana) over parenting in these uneasy times.

Richmond's comments "included references to his own experience with excessive force and concerns for his black son, [and] wound up prompting an angry response from Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), who suggested Richmond was assuming that Republicans in the room didn't also have children of color," reported Vox.

"Are you suggesting that you're certain that none of us have nonwhite children?" Gaetz said.

Richmond attempted to keep the focus on the question at hand, which was keeping Republicans ("all white men," he pointed out) to introduce unrelated amendments to a bill, in this case specifying Antifa in a police reform bill.

"I'm not about to get sidetracked by the color of our children," he said.

This only made Gaetz angrier.

"You're claiming you have more concern for my family than I do?" Gaetz shot back. "Who in the hell do you think you are?"

What was not known at the time of the exchange was that the unmarried, 38-year old Gaetz had a son.

The pair met six years ago when Gaetz was dating Nestor's older sister. Nestor was 12 years old and had "just arrived from Cuba, where he'd grown up and where his mother had recently died of breast cancer, Gaetz told People magazine.

"And so Nestor moved in with them – 'a modern family,' Gaetz says now."

Gaetz explained that he has not formally adopted Nestor.

"Our relationship as a family is defined by our love for each other, not by any paperwork," he told People."I just think that it's been the greatest thing in my life that this young man has been a part of my family and going forward I look forward to being his biggest cheerleader."

But, People adds: "Perhaps the strangest thing about this story is that this is the first time any of it has been shared publicly."

Gaetz and Nestor Galban (his last name on his Twitter account) joined Tucker Carlson Thursday night on his Fox News show to talk about their relationship and to lambast Richmond.

"It is certainly offensive to have someone tell you that you don't know what a certain experience is like when they know nothing about you," Gaetz said. "Nestor is the light of my life. I couldn't imagine loving him anymore if he was my own flesh and blood."

Nestor explained that he knew nothing about the exchange between Gaetz and Richmond.

"I woke up to seeing all these tweets and I was like what is going on?" I think it's unfair to tell someone that they don't understand because of their racial color," Nestor said, adding that it is hypocritical to claim to fight for equality while dividing by race.

Gaetz had some supporters on Twitter, including one from Katie Hill, who worked with Gaetz in Congress last year before resigning in a sex scandal.

While others questioned Gaetz's judgment:

And the butt of numerous Tweets that mocked his: