WATCH: Matt Gaetz Worried GOP Would Split ‘Into a Bunch of Factions Fighting’ for Power When Rebels Threatened Paul Ryan’s Speakership

Isaac SchorrOct 3rd, 2023, 10:20 am
 

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) may be intent on taking the gavel away from House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) less than a year into his tenure, but he once warned that such a decision would fracture the Republican Party.

In a 2018 interview with Fox Business, Gaetz dismissed his fellow firebrands’ desire to oust Speaker Paul Ryan.

“Here’s the problem: If we take Paul Ryan off the field right now, instead of being able to finish strong in 115th Congress, we will shatter into a bunch of factions fighting against each other for power. We’ve got enough of that in Washington already.” argued Gaetz at the time. “Paul Ryan can be a caretaker of the speakership. We can have a leadership election. We could go into the midterms strong. And I don’t think they’re pushing him out early. If he doesn’t want to go, is in any way advantageous.”

After Fox’s Lisa Kennedy Montgomery pushed back, suggesting that it might be better to find a new leader ahead of the midterms so they could sell the Republican vision, Gaetz blamed the Senate for D.C. Republicans inability to pass sufficiently conservative legislation.

“The Senate can’t do anything. And so I don’t think that it’s Paul Ryan’s fault that we’ve had a less than productive 115th Congress. I think it’s Mitch McConnell’s fault,” said Gaetz.

“He’s [Ryan’s] such a used up, dirty old Band-Aid that the second you rip him off, the almost corpse is going to fall into a million pieces?” asked Kennedy.

“Well, to torture your metaphor, if you keep that- if you take that Band-Aid off too soon, you can get an infection,” replied Gaetz.

Notably, both the upper chamber of Congress and White House were controlled by the GOP at the time. McCarthy, by contrast, has been forced to negotiate with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and President Joe Biden.

Gaetz filed a motion to vacate the chair and remove McCarthy from his position on Monday night, McCarthy has said the House will vote on the measure on Tuesday afternoon.

Tags: