Hulking “Reacher” star Alan Ritchson says a desire to crush his former high school rival Matt Gaetz is almost enough to make him enter politics.
The massive 230-lb. actor, whose action-packed Amazon Prime series debuted its third season on Thursday, went to school with the disgraced congressman in Niceville, Fla.
In a recently released GQ interview, Ritchson recalled he and “that motherf—-r” being “adversaries” in school.
Ritchson said he finds it shocking that people in Florida’s panhandle made Gaetz a congressman while he was being investigated for soliciting sex from an underaged girl.
“He’s just not a good dude!” Ritchson told the men’s lifestyle publication.
Gaetz, who denies any wrongdoing, left Congress when he became Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general. The 42-year-old Republican eventually succumbed to pressure to end that pursuit when a House Ethics report seriously called his character into question. He instead became a television personality on the One America News network.
For Ritchson, keeping Gaetz on the political sidelines is almost enough to get him to run for office.
“There’s part of me that wants to get into politics to outdo somebody like him for good,” he said. “And there’s part of me that’s like, I’m not duplicitous enough to succeed in politics.”
According to the actor, he looks up to “hero” politicians like Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders who remain genuine while serving in public office. But he said such people rarely get very far in that line of work.
Gaetz responded to Ritchson’s GQ article by saying he doesn’t recall their relationship being contentious.
“Hollywood apparently changes people!” he posted on X.
The former lawmaker said Ritchson was a year behind him in high school, where they were both on the debate team.
“He was always very nice to me (and everyone) and his mother, the computer lab monitor, loved me,” Gaetz said.
According to Gaetz, he attended a karaoke party celebrating Ritchson’s father’s retirement from the U.S. Air Force and sang the J. Geils Band’s 1981 hit “Centerfold.”
Gaetz flirted with pursuing a U.S. Senate seat in December. He told the Tampa Bay Times last month he’s also considering running for governor in Florida.