I ended up going down a rabbit hole after reading some bizarre Matt Gaetz backstories on Twitter.
Here is my new theory:
Matt Gaetz has always been a predator of young girls. When was 19 or 20 y.o. he had sex with a then 12 or 13 y.o. Maisbel Mendez who got pregnant and gave birth to a son (Nestor) in 2002 or 2003. The head of the Gaetz family - Don Gaetz - was, at the time, high profile and prominent in North Florida politics so a scandal like this could have ruined his career and his family's reputation. So they made a decision to send the child to Cuba to live with members of Maisbel's family (her father Nestor Galban Sr, and her mother or aunt Marbelina Matos).
Maisbel was compensated by the Gaetz family for her silence (cash, cars, etc.). When Nestor was 12 y.o. he moved to to FL because his extended family in Cuba was immigrating to FL and he had to go with them. He continued to live with them until his bio mom (Maisbel) decided she wanted full custody of him and went to court (2016).
During this same time, Matt Gaetz' political star was rising as a member of the FL House of Reps. With a focus on running for US House of Reps, he couldn't risk the long-buried scandal coming out that he impregnated an underage girl and fathered a child that was shipped off to Cuba to be raised by her extended family.
To protect his reputation and career (just like dad), Matt concocted this cover story about dating Maisbel when they were both adults (her 25, him 32) and her "brother" Nestor moving from Cuba to FL to live with them when he was 12.
Because it was always a lie based on a cover-up dating back to 2002, Matt got tripped up and started saying Nestor was his "adopted son" with no blood relation, when in fact he is Nestor's bio dad.
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