‘You Would’ve Seen Fists Thrown’: House Republican Glad GOP Meeting After McCarthy Ouster Didn’t Last Any Longer
Rep. Garret Graves (R-LA) shared a glimpse of the mood in a meeting of the Republican conference on Tuesday night just hours after Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was removed as speaker.
McCarthy gained the ignominious distinction of becoming the first person removed from the position after eight Republicans joined 208 Democrats in voting for his ouster. The vote was triggered by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), who moved to vacate the chair after McCarthy forged a short-term deal to avert a government shutdown that passed thanks to Democratic votes. Gaetz also alleged the ex-speaker breached the terms of an agreement they reached in January whereby McCarthy became speaker after Gaetz dropped his opposition to the bid.
Acting Speaker Patrick McHenry (R-NC) will lead the chamber until a new speaker is elected by the House. In the meantime, the chamber will not convene to take up the matter until next week.
Graves appeared on Wednesday’s episode of The Lead, where Jake Tapper asked him about that decision.
“Do you agree with Congressman McHenry’s decision… to put a pause to let tensions settle?” the host asked.
“Jake, I’ll be really candid,” Graves responded. “I think if we had stayed together in the meeting last night, I think that you would’ve seen fists thrown. And I’m not being dramatic when I say that. There is a lot of raw emotions right now. I think it was best to let folks go back home, decompress a little bit, and then come back together.”
McHenry’s decision was harshly criticized by Gaetz mere hours after he ascended to acting speaker.
“So, McHenry has the power of the speakership now,” he said on Newsmax. “And literally, his first act as the acting speaker of the House was to send everyone home ’til Tuesday. That’s moving in the wrong direction. We’ve gotta get a new speaker and we’ve gotta get leadership to understand a sense of urgency that your viewers and the American people all feel.”
Watch above via CNN.
