Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz exchanged jabs with former U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy this week, marking the latest chapter in the pair’s longstanding feud. On Tuesday, McCarthy returned to Capitol Hill for a surprise press conference more than a month after resigning from Congress, where he accused Gaetz of cheating on his wife and lying about his closeness to former President Donald Trump. Gaetz, who led the effort to oust McCarthy from the Speakership in October, responded to the allegations almost immediately.
After a reporter for Semafor posted some of McCarthy’s remarks to X, Gaetz replied, “What stage of grief is this?” He later told the reporter,
“The ghost of Christmas past visited us here in the halls of the Capitol and Kevin McCarthy apparently said that I wasn’t as well liked by President Trump as I thought but I recall President Trump asking me to go campaign for him in Iowa and NH”
“And there’s a reason President Trump hasn’t asked Kevin McCarthy to go campaign for him anywhere,” Gaetz continued. “It’s because, on almost any stage in the Trump campaign, Kevin McCarthy would be booed off of it.”
Gaetz continued to hammer McCarthy during a Wednesday night appearance on Newsmax’s ‘Eric Bolling’s The Balance.’ The Florida Republican told host Eric Bolling that McCarthy’s tirade “certainly doesn’t help President Trump, it certainly doesn’t help our campaign, and it just makes Kevin McCarthy look small and sad and lying.”
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What stage of grief is this?
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) February 13, 2024
During Tuesday’s press conference, McCarthy railed against Gaetz and the seven other House Republicans who voted to remove him. While taking questions, McCarthy told one reporter, “I don’t know how close you probably think the president is to Gaetz, but you should figure that out.”
After being pressed for more details, McCarthy followed up by accusing Gaetz of being unfaithful to his wife, telling the crowd, “He probably lies about who he sleeps with, too.” The former Speaker has repeatedly asserted that Gaetz ousted him as revenge after he refused to stop an ethics probe into the Florida Congressman.
“Is he trying to deflect from what’s happening in ethics? I don’t know what happened,” McCarthy told reporters. Gaetz has consistently denied any wrongdoing.
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Reporter: Gaetz and Trump aren’t actually that close? Gaetz makes it out to be like they’re—
McCarthy: Gaetz makes a lot out. He probably lies about who he sleeps with too pic.twitter.com/1PKhrixS0r
— Acyn (@Acyn) February 14, 2024
In early February, Politico reported that McCarthy was plotting a “vengeance operation” against the eight Republicans who voted him out. The report cited a key ally of McCarthy, Brian Walsh, who allegedly was recruiting primary challengers to take on the former Speaker’s enemies.
“These traitors chose to side with Nancy Pelosi, AOC, and over 200 Democrats to undermine the institution, their fellow Republicans, and a duly elected Speaker,” Walsh said in a statement published by Politico. “There must be consequences for that decision.”
McCarthy’s last day in Congress was Dec. 31, bringing the GOP majority down to just six votes. On Wednesday, Gaetz called McCarthy a “quitter,” saying he “blew up the GOP majority” by resigning.
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