MILWAUKEE — A long-running feud between former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) came to the surface this week, shining a spotlight on tensions that still rage in the House Republican Conference as Republicans push a message of unity.
Mr. McCarthy and Mr. Gaetz, who was historicly ousted from the top speaker’s post last year and subsequently resigned, were traveling to Milwaukee for former President Trump’s coronation, a trip that reunited the two adversaries and reopened old wounds from last year’s messy speaker race.
The drama began when Gaetz, who led a successful effort to oust McCarthy from his top position, approached the California Republican as he was being interviewed on the grounds of the Republican National Convention (RNC) on Tuesday and mocked him for attending the event.
“What night are we talking?” Gates jokingly asked McCarthy. “Tonight?”
“If I go on stage I’ll be booed off,” he added. “I’ll be booed off the stage.”
McCarthy ignored Gaetz during the episode but has since blasted the Florida Republican and drawn attention to an ongoing House Ethics Committee investigation into allegations that Gaetz had a sexual relationship with an underage girl, which he strongly denies.
“I don’t know what he was drinking, but I hope he gets the help that he needs,” McCarthy said at the Milwaukee Convention Center, “but more importantly, I hope that these girls get the justice that they deserve.”
To be sure, these sentiments are nothing new for Mr. McCarthy and Mr. Gaetz: Their relationship has been strained for months, culminating in Mr. McCarthy, a Florida Republican, successfully campaigning to oust the then-speaker.
But the events at the Republican National Convention highlight remaining tensions at the House Republican Conference at a time when Republicans are pushing a message of unity ahead of the November elections, and it’s an eyesore the party would prefer to ignore.
“I have nothing negative to say about Gaetz, but he has a way of drawing attention to himself when he shouldn’t and frankly it doesn’t help,” said Rep. Dan Meuser (R-Pennsylvania). “We’re fighting for what we want, but we need to win elections to get the policies we want in place.”
“The old saying goes, ‘Honey attracts more bees than vinegar,'” he added.
Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-Pennsylvania) called Gaetz’s exchange “inappropriate.”
“Matt Gaetz needs to show more maturity,” he said. “He needs to conduct himself with the dignity and integrity that befits the House of Representatives. Kevin McCarthy has been a great Speaker of the House and has done a great job. I am outraged by what Gaetz and other members have done to him.”
“Tubby didn’t need to be ‘physically restrained.’ He was using the ‘hold me’ gesture to look tough, when in fact he’s a devil,” said Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.), a critic of Gaetz.I wrote to XReferring to Trump.
The latest episode between McCarthy and Gaetz played out at the Republican National Convention, which brought together Republicans from around the country, including many who serve on Capitol Hill, to project an image of unity ahead of the November election. In a speech on the convention’s final day, Trump urged the party to “move beyond our past differences,” and the event featured remarks from two of his former primary opponents, former U.S. ambassador to the United States Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).
But the McCarthy-Gaetz drama shattered that image, at least for a moment, and shone a spotlight on remaining divisions within the GOP. Some Republicans, however, have downplayed the divide, arguing that despite their differences, the two men have important things in common: They both support Trump.
“Something’s always going to happen. I’m not too worried about it,” Rep. Byron Donald (R-Fla.) said on the floor of the Republican National Convention. “What I’m worried about is, whether it’s Matt or Kevin, they’re both united in their support of Donald Trump and the mission before us is to make him the next president. Anything else that’s going on between them, they’re both adults and they’ll sort it out. We’ll move on.”
Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), chairman of the Appropriations Committee, echoed that sentiment, telling reporters, “I’m sure Matt Gaetz and Kevin McCarthy would vote for the same person for president, so I call this unity.”
“I saw that they didn’t get along. It was a personal conflict, not a broader conflict between groups or anything like that,” said Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio. “Matt and Kevin don’t like each other.”
The meeting came more than nine months after Gaetz rammed through a successful vote to remove McCarthy as speaker, with seven Republicans and all Democrats in support. Two months later, McCarthy announced he would be leaving Congress at the end of the year, ending a 15-year-plus tenure in the House.
But as McCarthy’s downfall recedes, tensions between the two men are only growing.
Gaetz wrote that he “86ed” McCarthy to X and that “better days are coming for the Republican Party,” and continues to highlight the success of his expulsion effort.Jokingly supportiveThe California Republican was named chairman of the Republican National Committee because the position “does not make any policy decisions or negotiate with Democrats.”
Meanwhile, Florida Republicans continue to accuse McCarthy of spearheading a campaign to oust him because he supported Gaetz’s Republican primary opponent and was upset that McCarthy did not stop an ethics investigation into him, charges he denies.
Some say Gaetz’s frustration with McCarthy, which was apparent at the Republican National Convention, was justified. Asked whether Gaetz was wrong to treat McCarthy the way he did, Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), who also voted to expel the California Republican, said “no.”
“Kevin thinks he’s spending $900,000 every two weeks on Matt’s campaign to attack him,” Burchett continued. “So I don’t think so. He wants to play in the adult league. Politics is a contact sport.”
Burchett was one of at least three Republicans at the convention who voted to remove McCarthy from his post, along with Gaetz and Rep. Nancy Mace (D-Lausanne, Calif.), but they weren’t the only Republicans Burchett, a California Republican, was paying close attention to.
Asked about Gaetz’s involvement in the primary, McCarthy turned to Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.), chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus and the man who voted to oust Gaetz from his position as speaker.
McCarthy pumped thousands of dollars from the Republican Majority Committee PAC into supporting Good’s primary opponent, John McGuire, who beat Good by 0.6 percentage points, according to Decision Desk HQ, but Good requested a recount.
“The best thing about last night was having John Maguire come by,” McCarthy said. “We got some photos.”
Asked about Good’s request for a recount in Virginia’s primary, McCarthy criticized his former colleague.
“I don’t care if you take more money from him,” he said. “He’s going to lose again.”
Alice Foley contributed.
