Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy renewed his feud with ex-Rep. Matt Gaetz, who is dodging the release of the House Ethics Committee’s investigation into his alleged sexual misconduct.
After facing intense criticism over claims he had sex with a 17-year-old, Gaetz last week withdrew his name from consideration to become the Trump administration’s next attorney general.
With a new poll showing President-elect Donald Trump’s transition has the support of the majority of voters, McCarthy suggested the high approval ratings came because Gaetz, whom he described as “the problem,” had dropped out of the Cabinet picture.
“At this moment in time, you look at his [Trump’s] poll approval of what he’s doing with this new transition he’s bringing, [he] got rid of the problem,” McCarthy said during a Monday appearance on Jesse Watters Primetime. “Now he’s in a very good place, and the approval’s high.”
After Watters asked McCarthy if he meant that “the problem” was Gaetz, he replied, “Well, that’s a fear for all young girls. They need their justice.”
Rebuffing Watters’s proposal that he was making the attack on Gaetz because “you guys hate each other,” McCarthy said: “Let’s be very honest. There’s no reason why that man should’ve ever been nominated.”
“Those girls need justice, and that is not the place for him,” the California Republican continued.
The two men have engaged in a bitter feud for nearly two years. In January 2023, Gaetz helped lead efforts to keep McCarthy from gaining the speaker’s gavel, citing the need for various rule changes to fix a “broken” legislative process, restore debate, and increase the power of individual representatives over party bosses in the House. Republican opponents to McCarthy also demanded a return to fiscally responsible spending policies. Due to the opposition, McCarthy clinched the speakership only after 15 grueling rounds of votes.
The battle between the two House Republicans continued throughout 2023, with McCarthy telling Politico in May that “Gaetz is the Hunter Biden of the Republican Party.”
Unfazed by comparisons to President Joe Biden’s son, Gaetz led another effort to oust McCarthy last fall over spending disagreements.
Responding to the Florida Republican’s threats to force a “motion to vacate” vote to oust him if he didn’t make compromises with fiscally conservative Republicans on the federal budget, the embattled speaker shot back.
“If you want to file a motion to vacate, then file the f***ing motion,” McCarthy said in September 2023.
The following month, Gaetz successfully filed the motion to vacate the measure and toppled McCarthy from his post, making his 269-day speakership the shortest in more than 140 years.
The latest twist in their feud came in November as the House Ethics Committee was set to release a report in November examining allegations that Gaetz had sex with a minor and attended parties where drugs were used. The Florida Republican has staunchly denied all claims, with the report coming after the Department of Justice closed a similar investigation in February, citing a lack of evidence to charge Gaetz with any crimes.
When Trump nominated the Florida Republican to head the Department of Justice, the Ethics Committee no longer had jurisdiction over Gaetz to continue its investigation into him after he resigned his House seat to fill the Cabinet post.
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Yet lawmakers continued to mount pressure on the committee to release the report. Although the committee ultimately decided not to do so, fury over Gaetz’s alleged sexual escapades pushed him to drop out of consideration to become Trump’s attorney general, making McCarthy’s biting prediction from earlier this month come true.
“Gaetz won’t get confirmed — everybody knows that,” the former House speaker said.