Matt Gaetz Says ‘Trump Is Wrong’ If He Thinks McCarthy Should Be Speaker: ‘Hasn’t Always Nailed It on the HR Front’

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) made some rare remarks critical of Donald Trump over the former president’s support of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to be the next speaker.

Gaetz has repeatedly said he won’t be one of the 218 votes McCarthy needs to lead the House when Republicans retake the chamber next month. He’s not alone, as a handful of GOP lawmakers are threatening to scuttle McCarthy’s bid in what will be a House narrowly controlled by Republicans.

On Monday’s edition of Steve Bannon’s War Room being broadcast from a Turning Point USA event, Gaetz said Trump is “wrong” to back McCarthy.

“I can’t wait to vote for Donald Trump in the 2024 election,” Gaetz said. “But if Donald Trump believes that Kevin McCarthy should be speaker of the House, then Donald Trump is wrong. And Donald Trump has not always nailed it on the HR front.”

The congressman stated Trump’s support of McCarthy has failed to convince any of the latter’s opponents to back his bid.

“He sets the vision,” Gaetz continued. “But Donald Trump has not moved a single vote when it comes to the people considering how to cast their lot in the speaker’s race.”

That race has exposed fissures within the House Republican conference, sometimes with ugly results. On Monday, Gaetz was asked about Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-GA) about-face on McCarthy, whom she previously criticized but is now supporting for speaker.

“I’m a fan of hers, I’m an admirer, but it’s not something we see the same on,” Gaetz replied.

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) was less diplomatic, however.

“I’ve been aligned with Marjorie and accused of believing a lot of the things that she believes in,” she stated. “I don’t believe in this, just like I don’t believe in Russian space lasers, Jewish space lasers, and all of this.”

Greene responded by calling Boebert’s comment a “cheap sound bite.”

Watch above via Right Side Broadcasting Network

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