Joe Gruters is a married father of 3 young children, the treasurer of the Republican National Committee, and apparently an avid fan of many, many OnlyFans models on Instagram, as well as gambling and dating accounts.
A review of the 47-year-old’s private Instagram account revealed that until very recently, Gruters was following at least 60 OnlyFans model profiles showing women in skimpy clothing and swimsuits. The review also revealed that he followed several gambling accounts, in addition to accounts that offer tips on male grooming, confidence and dating — despite the fact that he’s been married to his wife, Sydney, for years.
The GOP politician regularly posts images with her and his young children who all live in Sarasota, Florida from that account that he uses for who knows what based on the adult accounts he follows. One example is a family photo he posted on Thanksgiving this past year that showed him, his wife Sydney and their two sons and one daughter wearing their medals after completing the ‘Family Turkey Trot run!’
When asked about the accounts, Gruters admitted to following the “questionable” accounts, though he insisted that he does not “personally know everyone I follow or who follows me.” He added: “I typically engage accounts that are recommended or interact with my account. That said, I will review my follows and remove any content that may be considered questionable.”
And that’s a lot of follows to review. When the review of his account was done, it was noted that he followed 6,477 accounts. His profile had 3,781 followers, and since he had a private profile, every follower had to be approved by Gruter or his team to be able to view his posts.
This isn’t his first brush with scandal. Gruters was previously investigated by the Republican Party of Florida back in 2021 when he was its chairman for third-party claims of sexual harassment of a legislative staffer when they drove him home following a night out at a bar in Tallahassee.
Nothing came of the allegation after an independent probe found no accuser with firsthand knowledge of the alleged incident was willing to come forward and speak. And Gruters denied even knowing about the investigation or the claims against him.
Guter is currently the state senator for the 22nd district of Florida, which includes Sarasota and the areas south of that on the gulf coast. He noted in his Instagram bio that he has been endorsed by President Donald Trump five times and an Electoral College voter three times. In both the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, he was a chair for Trump’s Florida campaigns.
But he hasn’t been towing the party line as much recently, breaking with the GOP on several fronts, including pushing more lax marijuana-related laws against Gov. Ron DeSantis’ agenda.
Gruter continues to lay low after the Instagram scandal, and is keeping quiet as he removes some of the questionable accounts from his following list. At least, from the profile that still has his name.