Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said in a new interview he’s still mulling whether to run again following his ouster from the powerful post — ripping into fellow Republicans who led the charge to force him out.
“I’m taking time off. I’m going to talk to my family about ideas about what’s going to happen, and then I’ll make a decision,” the California Republican said on CNN’s “Domestic Politics” on Sunday about whether he would run to stay. in the House of Representatives.
After he was voted out of the speakership last month, reports emerged that McCarthy was considering a re-election bid, but he later denied that and insisted he planned to run.
But McCarthy, in the interview, sounded as if he missed his old gig, telling CNN, “It wasn’t that long, but like everyone else, I wanted to be at the table.”
“It’s a little more difficult, you want to make other decisions,” he said of the transition to rank-and-file congressmen.
“But unfortunately, eight Republicans worked with all the Democrats to disrupt and now we’re in a different situation.”
Kevin McCarthy doubts whether he plans to run for re-election.CNN
McCarthy has an ax to grind with eight Republicans, led by Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, who started a crusade to bring him down.
“Matt’s goal is to be a TV congressman,” McCarthy claimed. “I think Congress is too important and the issues are too big to focus on the little things that Matt is trying to do. It’s more about division — and focused on itself.”
He also ripped Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) who joined the rebellion against him, predicted he would struggle in the election.
“Not because of this. I mean, if you’ve seen him — just his philosophy and flip-flopping, I don’t believe he won re-election,” the former speaker speculated.
Gaetz responded by saying, “thoughts and prayers to the former speaker as he overcomes his grief.”
Meanwhile, Mace defended his vote against McCarthy and accused him of “lying all the time to him.”
Matt Gaetz has said he is willing to give Speaker Mike Johnson more grace than Kevin McCarthy.AP
McCarthy has publicly accused Gaetz of pressuring him to interfere in the House Ethics Committee’s ongoing investigation into Gaetz – something the Florida congressman has denied.
“If the Ethics Committee had never done anything to Gaetz, then Gaetz would have stopped maybe what was coming to him,” McCarthy said.
“Through three weeks of taking down Steve Scalise, Jim Jordan, Tom Emmer – all the people who were really willing to do the job – That was disappointing,” he added.
Gaetz has publicly endorsed several candidates for House speaker, including House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).
Nancy Mace wears the letter “A” as a nod to the “Scarlet Letter” amid backlash from her fellow Republicans.AP
All of them failed to garner enough votes from the tight-knit House GOP conference to become speaker.
Freshman Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who until then was a relatively unknown figure outside the beltway, managed to unanimously lock in Republican support for the gavel last month.
Now he finds himself in the same situation as McCarthy, struggling with how to avoid a government shutdown on November 17.
“The last 45 days — when you get there [Nov. 17] — was designed for us to go to conference and settle differences between the Senate and the House,” McCarthy lamented.
“Unfortunately, we are going through the speaker’s race and we don’t have time to do all this. So we’re kind of back to square one.”
Mike Johnson is working to continue stalled government funding measures to keep the lights on and buy time for negotiating expenses.Tamara Beckwith/NY Post
The Californian sounded supportive of Johnson as he grapples with similar predicaments, though the new speaker has not faced serious talk of impeachment — at least not yet.
McCarthy insisted that his move to bring forward funding for the government to keep the US military paid, and said, “I would do the same thing again.”
In late October, sports trading card dealer David Giglio announced a primary challenge to McCarthy for the GOP nomination in California’s 20th District, even though the incumbent is the overwhelming favorite.
McCarthy’s recent Republican predecessors, however, left Congress after dropping the speaker’s gavel: John Boehner, of Ohio, resigned in 2015 amid an attempted rebellion from the Freedom Caucus, while Paul Ryan of Wisconsin chose not to run for re-election. in 2018 ahead of the Democrats. ‘ takeover of the House.
McCarthy’s ouster marks the first time in US history that a sitting speaker has won a House vote.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
