Jim Jordan has given up on becoming the next speaker of the House of Representatives for the moment. The Ohio congressman made the decision after two failed votes in which he could not gather 200 votes in favor. Therefore, the Republican Conference met on Thursday to evaluate the steps to be taken in the coming days. In the middle of the closed-door meeting, Kevin McCarthy crossed paths with Matt Gaetz.
The four-hour meeting included interventions by many members, including the former speaker of the House, who was the victim of an impeachment motion by Gaetz, so the relationship between the two has turned understandably rocky. Those attending described the meeting as “intense.”
Sources who were present in the room related the episode to The Hill. At one point, McCarthy spoke up and began giving his viewpoint on the situation. Between ideas, he called out Gaetz by name, so Gaetz stood up to interrupt him. “Sit your ass down,” McCarthy told him, prompting Gaetz to “say something back.”
Former speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) on his frustration with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and where things stand with the speaker election: “The whole country would scream at Matt Gaetz right now… How do you have 4% of your conference remove a speaker when you have 96% there?” pic.twitter.com/PIZUeRMcmu
— CSPAN (@cspan) October 19, 2023
“The whole country, I think, would yell at Matt Gaetz right now”
According to McCarthy himself, he did not yell at his Florida colleague. “I was at the mic, I was speaking and Matt Gaetz tried to interrupt. I told him to sit down,” he explained, then making it clear that many congressmen are upset with Gaetz for being the main cause of the current situation in the House.
“Listen, the whole country, I think, would scream at Matt Gaetz right now. Remember, it was the crazy eight led by Matt Gaetz and every single Democrat that put us into this situation,” he added.
Q: “Did McCarthy scream at you?”
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL): “Well, you know he loses his temper sometimes, maybe it’s the Irish in him. But I actually think it was a productive discussion.” pic.twitter.com/FiTiZXQIgq
— CSPAN (@cspan) October 19, 2023
Gaetz joked that McCarthy “gets his Irish up sometimes” and continued by explaining, “I’m not a very emotional person. I am a lawyer by trade, not a baker, and so I’m used to the presentation of arguments and the listening of arguments without getting hot under the collar,” he added when asked by reporters present on Capitol Hill.
Regarding the election of the next speaker of the House, Gaetz expressed his disapproval of Patrick McHenry continuing as interim until the end of the year. “I’m against Speaker-light, I am against Bud Light. I believe it is a constitutional desecration not to elect a Speaker of the House.”
