‘F**k Off!’ McCarthy And Gaetz Throw DOWN in Reported Closed Door Brawl
When House Republicans meet in private lately there is almost always dirt to dish after the fact, usually involving Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Rep. Matt Gaetz, and allies such as Reps. French Hill or Lauren Boebert, as the caucus remains at an impasse on spending, debt, and the possibility of a government shutdown.
On Thursday, Republicans in the House had a closed-door meeting about their many differences of opinion, a theme that has dogged McCarthy since winning the Speakership in a prolonged fight with the MAGA hold-outs that went through multiple voting rounds.
The wounded Republican leader has had difficulty all year keeping the caucus together, and the faction most vocally represented by Gaetz and Boebert has been a constant thorn, the current budget fight being no exception.
After the morning meeting, news began leaking on X (formerly Twitter) about the goings on. Punchbowl’s Jake Sherman reported on the latest (but by no means only) f-bomb moment.
It started with a particularly sore issue for the MAGA wing: Ukraine.
🚨NEWS — @SpeakerMcCarthy IN CLOSED HOUSE GOP MEETING:
McCarthy said he talked to senators and said don’t send a CR with Ukraine money to the House unless there’s border provisions in it.
MCCARTHY said he thinks SCHUMER is more likely to take Ukraine money out of the CR than…
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) September 28, 2023
Gaetz and McCarthy reportedly battled it out over the wild allegation that McCarthy is actually paying people to trash Gaetz online, which prompted the speaker to dismissively laugh and say, “I’m not worried about you.”
GOP TENSIONS …
MCCARTHY and GAETZ just got into a back and forth in the House GOP conference meeting.
GAETZ said McCarthy allies are paying influencers to post negative things about Gaetz online.
KM laughed it off and said: “Matt, I’m not worried about you.”
KM said, I…
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) September 28, 2023
And then Gaetz brought up Sam Bankman-Fried and the FTX scandal. That got Arkansas Representative and McCarthy ally Hill to drop the F. Reportedly.
MORE from the House GOP meeting…
When MCCARTHY said he was donating $5M to the NRCC/members, Gaetz said “how much of that is from FTX or Sam Bankman Fried.”
Rep. FRENCH HILL (R-Ark.), a McCarthy ally, said loudly “Oh, fuck off.”
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) September 28, 2023
The battle in the GOP is taking place not just behind closed doors but in public, as the budget fight and other issues continue to put the farthest right at odds with McCarthy’s leadership.
