Just before the metaphorical swinging doors of Congress smacked him on the butt and slammed shut, ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) chucked a final insult at Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) through the closing crack.
“He was psychotic,” McCarthy told reporters on Thursday, according to Fox News Digital.
McCarthy was specifically referring to the actions Gaetz took that resulted in his loss of the all-important gavel.
“People study that type of crazy mind, right?” the Californian said. “Mainly the FBI.”
Speaking to CNN’s Manu Raju last month, McCarthy claimed that Republicans would benefit “tremendously” if Gaetz were to be booted from the party.
“People have to earn the right to be here,” he said. “He’ll admit to you personally that he doesn’t have a conservative bent in his philosophy and just the nature of what he focuses on.”
New — Spoke to Kevin McCarthy. Had some choice words for “crazy eight” Rs. Said GOP won’t “ever heal” unless there are “consequences”
Said GOP would benefit “tremendously” if Gaetz wasn’t in House.
And says Nancy Mace doesn’t deserve to win reelect.
Full intvw: 11aET Sunday pic.twitter.com/7xCBKi5HjL
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) November 9, 2023
Asked if he thought Gaetz should be expelled from the Republican Party, McCarthy said at the time, “That’s up to the conference.”
“But I don’t believe the conference would ever heal if there’s no consequences for the actions,” he added.
According to McCarthy, he was surprised by his GOP colleagues.
“It seemed out of nature,” he said of their vote to remove him as speaker. “They seemed to have changed during the time. They care a lot about press, not about policy. They seem to just want the press and the personality.”
Never one to back down from a McCarthy mud toss, Gaetz offered, “Thoughts and prayers to the former speaker as he works through his grief.”
Thoughts and prayers to the former speaker as he works through his grief. https://t.co/1QifRVR3O2 https://t.co/vpPtaNBk41 pic.twitter.com/HCGDY8WDzL
— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) November 9, 2023
“This is what they do,” Gaetz said. “When I want to talk about budgets that balance, term limits, releasing the January 6 tapes, real accountability over the deep state, over the Biden family, they just want to say, ‘Oh, it’s all personal,’ but they can’t address the substance.”
Addressing McCarthy directly, Gaetz said, “I know that you mocked and made fun of Tim Burchett for praying about his decision to vote to remove you, but you’re still in our prayers. And maybe if you didn’t mock prayer and engaged in some, you would have better peace and comfort.”
“The notion that the Republican conference is going to kick me out for doing something that was exceedingly popular seems unlikely,” he later said. “The decision to fire McCarthy and replace him with Mike Johnson has been popular — popular with Democrats, popular with Republicans, popular with Independents. It may be one of the most popular things House Republicans have done.”
“If what Kevin McCarthy wants,” he concluded, “is to make a motion to throw me out of the Republican conference, I guess all I can really say is, ‘Bring the effing motion.'”
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Melissa Fine is the former executive editor of Casino Player, Strictly Slots, and Poker
Digest magazines. She is a UCLA graduate, news junkie, and dedicated Stargate SG-
1 fan. Melissa currently lives with her dog and two cats in a tiny town in the Sierra
Nevada foothills.
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