WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 13: U.S. House Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) speaks during a weekly news conference at the U.S. Capitol on January 13, 2022 in Washington, DC. Leader McCarthy announced yesterday that he would not voluntarily cooperate with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol after the committee has formally requested an interview with him. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
The rivalry between former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-California) and his nemesis, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida), is boiling over again.
McCarthy recently accused Gaetz of being dishonest about his relationship with former President Donald Trump and about his personal life.
“Has there ever been any conversations between you and the former president about Matt Gaetz and his decision to throw you out,” a reporter asked McCarthy recently. “Was he supportive of that?”
“I don’t know how close you probably think the president is to Gaetz, but you should figure that out,” the former house speaker replied.
“They’re not actually that close,” another reporter asked.
“He makes it out – Gaetz makes it out to be like they’re –,” they added before being interrupted by the ex-House speaker.
“I’m sure,” McCarthy stated. “Gaetz probably makes a lot out – but he probably lies about who he sleeps with, too.”
This statement was possibly in reference to the House Ethics Committee’s investigation into whether or not Gaetz had sex with a minor while serving in Congress.
Gaetz led the motion, which seven other House Republicans backed, to remove McCarthy as House speaker.
He accused McCarthy of working with Democrats after the House passed a yearly spending package to keep the federal government open.
The ex-House speaker answered a question from a reporter regarding Gaetz’s resolution to defend Trump from accusations of leading the January 6 Capitol riot.
“Is he trying to deflect from what’s happening in [the] Ethics [Committee],” McCarthy asked. “I don’t know what happened.”
He claimed that Gaetz had been “very concerned” about it during his time as speaker, and asked him “to do something about it.”
McCarthy went on to say that he could not do anything about the investigation because that “would be illegal.”
Gaetz responded to reports of McCarthy’s comments on X.
“What stage of grief is this,” Gaetz asked.
Additionally, Gaetz replied to McCarthy’s accusation that his resolution declaring Trump innocent had been a distraction.
“70 members of the House have now joined me in this resolution,” the Florida representative stated. “Apparently they’ve moved on. The disgraced former speaker should too.”
The bad blood between the two has been building for months.
On October 19, 2023, McCarthy scolded Gaetz during a closed-door GOP conference meeting after he attempted to interrupt him.
In November 2023, McCarthy, during an interview with CNN, called the eight Republicans who voted to oust him “disruptors.”
The former speaker even stated that the Republican Party would greatly benefit if the Florida representative was no longer a House member.
McCarthy said that it is ultimately up to the conference of House GOP members to decide if Gaetz should be expelled. However, he also mentioned that he believes the conference cannot heal if no one is held accountable for these actions.
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