Matt Gaetz Eviscerates McCarthy and His Bid for Speaker in Brutal Op-Ed: ‘Kevin Does Not Actually Believe Anything’
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Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) redoubled his opposition to Kevin McCarthy’s bid for House Speaker with a scathing essay on his various gripes with the congressman.
Ever since the Republican “red wave” failed to meet expectations in the midterm elections, Gaetz has been one of the most vocal hard-right GOPers against McCarthy’s speakership aspirations. This puts McCarthy on a narrow corridor for his hopes of gathering the 218 votes he needs to secure the job — as Gaetz is one of five congressmen who say they won’t vote for McCarthy under any circumstances. If the five remain firm in their opposition, McCarthy will not be Speaker.
On Wednesday, Gaetz wrote a piece for The Daily Caller where he scoffed at those who say that opposing McCarthy’s bid will spark “chaos.”
From Gaetz:
How well did Speaker Paul Ryan serve conservatives during then-President Donald Trump’s first term? Are we glad that his tenure got off to a smooth start? It would have been better to have debated and chosen the right leader. Ryan, of course, supports McCarthy.
Every single Republican in Congress knows that Kevin does not actually believe anything. He has no ideology.
Some conservatives are using this fact to convince themselves that he is the right leader for the moment, as McCarthy is so weak he’ll promise anything to anyone. As his mentor recently confessed, “He lies. He’ll change the lie if necessary.” McCarthy doesn’t just respond to pressure from the Right.
Gaetz went on to list his various policy disputes with McCarthy, all while accusing him of being an opportunist who shouldn’t be rewarded after failing to deliver a crushing GOP midterms victory.
In sports, when the team loses games it is supposed to win, the coach gets fired. In business, when earnings vastly miss projections, the CEO is replaced. In Republican politics, a promotion shouldn’t be failure’s chaser.
McCarthy knows he will end up failing Republicans and caving to liberals. That’s why he opposes reinstating the motion to vacate, which was in place from 1801 to 2018. He wants to make sure conservative congressmen can’t fix the problem once it’s too late.
