Matt Gaetz Bizarrely Attacks House Speaker Kevin McCarthy For Greeting School Kids At the Capitol: ‘Depressingly Revealing’

Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz added a strange new attack to his war with Republican leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy Thursday by bizarrely attacking the Speaker for greeting school children and their families at the Capitol rotunda.

Gaetz dismissively posted that we “now know what the Speaker has been doing instead of,” issuing a subpoena for Hunter Biden and a couple of other items. “Kevin thinking this was the video we needed at this moment is depressingly revealing. We need a SPEAKER not a GREETER.”

Gaetz was quote-replying to McCarthy sharing a video in which the Speaker is seen greeting visitors and asking where they’re from.

“It doesn’t matter where you’re from — our Capitol is OPEN and yours to visit. As long as I’m Speaker, the People’s House will always be open to the people,” McCarthy wrote.

Gaetz has been pushing for an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden and his family’s business dealings, and has warned McCarthy to act or get out of the way.

MSNBC’s Steve Benen reported on a Gaetz interview with conservative radio:

“I worked very hard in January to develop a toolkit for House Republicans to use in a productive and positive way. I don’t believe we’ve used those tools as effectively as we should have,” Gaetz said, adding that the GOP needed to “seize the initiative.”

“That means forcing votes on impeachment. And if Speaker McCarthy stands in our way, he may not have the job long,” Gaetz said.

Benen continued:

Gaetz didn’t go into specific details about the strategy he has in mind, but the unsubtle threat directed at his party’s House speaker was almost certainly a reference to motion-to-vacate-the-chair rules that were tweaked in January to make it easier for GOP members to try to take McCarthy’s gavel away.

McCarthy won the Speaker’s seat after a whopping 15 votes in January, when he was forced to cede key concessions to MAGA Republicans, including Gaetz.

Watch the video above via X (formerly Twitter).