Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) videobombed a CNN interview with former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy during the Republican National Convention on Tuesday night.
“What you’re seeing here is the Republican Party coming together,” the former California congressman told moderator Caitlin Collins on the convention floor, before his GOP rival, Gaetz, interrupted the interview.
In the footage, Gaetz was seen leaning into the frame as McCarthy spoke about firing the speaker.
“What night are you talking about? Are you talking about tonight?” Gates scoffed.
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Rep. Matt Gaetz leans into the frame during an interview with CNN’s Kevin McCarthy.
“[The] “The guy who brought this up is facing an ethics complaint about paying to sleep with a 17-year-old girl, and that’s the way they’re going to do it, so that’s the biggest challenge we have,” McCarthy told Collins, ignoring Gaetz’s criticism.
“If I went on that stage I would be booed off,” Gaetz added.
“I think this really speaks to the kind of person Matt Gaetz is,” McCarthy said on NBC News Now when asked about the conflict.
“Well, that was after he received an ethics complaint about him making payments to an underage girl four years ago. [the House Ethics Committee]”And he tried to use me to try to stop the ethics investigation, which is illegal and I would not do that. He tried to use the fact that I did not shut down the government if I should have lost my job because I did not follow the law. Think about it, I did not shut down the government and he tried to file a motion to remove me from office,” McCarthy said.
“Everybody has different people in their own parties. Unfortunately, Matt happens to be here. At the end of the day, I don’t think he should be out on the streets,” he added.
Mr. Gaetz and Mr. McCarthy had a notoriously tumultuous relationship, with Mr. Gaetz particularly questioning Mr. McCarthy’s stance on conservative principles, which led to Mr. McCarthy’s removal as speaker.
Pelosi said she was “confident that Biden will lose” and was “on the phone negotiating to get Biden voted out of the election.”
Kevin McCarthy and Matt Gaetz’s rivalry (Getty)
Gaetz introduced a “motion to remove McCarthy from his position as Speaker” in October, accusing McCarthy of poor leadership, collaboration with Democrats, and abandoning conservative ideals. The House voted 216-210 in favor of the motion, making it the first time in U.S. history that a sitting Speaker has been removed from his position by such a vote.
“We are concerned about the future of conservative policy in the House,” Gaetz said at the time. “It’s fair to say that conservative policy has been paralyzed by Speaker McCarthy.”
McCarthy called the coalition of Republicans who joined Democrats to exclude him the “Gaetz Eight.”
“Matt Gaetz’s actions have destroyed the Republican majority. He has now created ‘Lord of the Flies.’ If you ask anybody in our party, they actually know that,” he said.
McCarthy comes two months after his historic ouster as speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. Resignation by December 2023.
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Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump attended the first day of the Republican National Convention. (Reuters/Callahan O’Hare)
The House Ethics Committee announced in June that it would further investigate allegations that Gaetz “engaged in sexual misconduct and illegal drug use, accepted inappropriate gifts, provided privileges and advantages to individuals with whom he had personal relationships, and attempted to obstruct a government investigation into his conduct.”
Gaetz is currently under investigation for years by the House of Representatives at the direction of the Department of Justice (DOJ) following reports in early 2021 that he had a relationship with an underage girl. The claim was rejected Gates in 2023.
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The committee also noted that Gaetz denies all the allegations.
Writers Elizabeth Elkind of The Associated Press and Fox News contributed to this report.
