Rep. Matt Gaetz. | AP Photo/Steve Cannon Florida congressional candidate attacked for tying death of Marlins pitcher to Kaepernick protests

Northwest Florida’s likely next congressman, Republican state Rep. Matt Gaetz, is under fire for using Sunday's boating death of Miami Marlins pitcher José Fernández to bash the football players protesting the national anthem.

“To all who will kneel during the anthem today — just remember how José Fernández risked his life just for the chance to stand for it,” Gaetz tweeted just after 10 a.m. Sunday.


The Twitter message — primarily aimed at San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick protesting racial inequality — came hours after sports fans and South Floridians awoke to the news that Fernandez was killed in a Miami boating accident. The death was cruel irony for a Cuban immigrant who had repeatedly tried to flee the communist island to the U.S. mainland, jumping in the water and rescuing his own mother from drowning during his successful 2007 escape.

South Florida politicians reacted with widespread mourning to the news, and Gaetz initially expressed his sorrow

“I just saw the news on José Fernández. As a Marlin fan, a Floridian and an admirer of the Cuban-American experience, I am crushed,” Gaetz, whose Aug. 30 win in the GOP primary for Florida’s heavily Republican 1st Congressional District all but assured his congressional ambitions, wrote.

About 30 minutes later,Gaetz took his shot at the NFL players in relation to Fernández’s death. And the backlash against Gaetz was immediate, with liberals telling him to delete his Twitter account or even his existence.

Gaetz, who has been known to engage in incendiary Twitter exchanges, stood his ground.

“My point is that while America remains imperfect, so many do so much to enjoy our freedoms. Seems ungrateful to kneel. Just my opinion,” Gaetz replied to one critic who compared him to an anus.