Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said in a new interview that he was still mulling over whether he would seek re-election following his ouster from the powerful office, while criticizing fellow Republicans who led the charge to oust him.
“I have vacations. I’ll talk to my family about ideas of what’s to come and then make a decision,” the California Republican said Sunday on CNN’s “Inside Politics” about whether he would run to remain in the House of Representatives.
After he was ousted from the presidency last month, reports emerged that McCarthy was contemplating endorsing a re-election bid, but he later denied it and insisted he planned to run.
But McCarthy, in the interview, sounded like he missed his old job, telling CNN: “It hasn’t been that long, but like anyone else, I want to be at the table.”
“It’s a little more difficult, you want to make other decisions,” he said about the transition to rank-and-file congressman.
“But unfortunately, eight Republicans worked with all the Democrats to disrupt and now we are in a different situation.”
Kevin McCarthy was coy about whether he plans to run for reelection. CNN
McCarthy had an ax to grind with the eight Republicans, led by Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, who embarked on the crusade to take him down.
“Matt’s goal was to be the TV congressman,” McCarthy alleged. “I think Congress is too important and the issues are too big to focus on such small things as Matt tries to do. “It’s more of a division and a focus on itself.”
He also criticized Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), who joined the revolt against him, predicting she would have electoral difficulties.
“Not for this. I mean, if you’ve watched her, just her philosophy and her changes, I don’t think she’ll win re-election,” the former spokesperson surmised.
Gaetz responded by saying, “thoughts and prayers for the former speaker as he works through his grief.”
Mace, meanwhile, defended his vote against McCarthy and accused him of “lying to him all the time.”
Matt Gaetz has said he’s willing to give President Mike Johnson more grace than Kevin McCarthy.AP
McCarthy has publicly accused Gaetz of pressuring him to intervene in the House Ethics Committee’s ongoing investigation into Gaetz, something the Florida congressman denies.
“If the Ethics Committee never does anything to Gaetz, then Gaetz probably managed to stop what should legitimately happen to him,” McCarthy said.
“Spending three weeks beating Steve Scalise, Jim Jordan, Tom Emmer, all people who are really prepared to do the job, was frustrating,” he added.
Gaetz had publicly endorsed some of those House speaker candidates, including House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio). .
Nancy Mace used the letter “A” in a nod to the “Scarlet Letter” amid reaction from her fellow Republicans.AP
None of them managed to win enough votes from the threadbare House Republican conference to become president.
New Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who until then had been a little-known figure outside the Beltway, managed to secure unanimous Republican support for the gavel last month.
Now he finds himself in a similar situation to McCarthy, fighting over how to avoid a government shutdown on November 17.
“The last 45 days, when you get to [Nov. 17] — was designed for us to go to a conference and resolve the differences between the Senate and the House,” McCarthy lamented.
“Unfortunately, we went through a speaking race and didn’t have time to do all this. So we are back to square one.”
Mike Johnson is trying to push through a stopgap government funding measure to keep the lights on and buy time for spending negotiations. Tamara Beckwith/NY Post
The Californian appeared to support Johnson as he deals with similar situations, although the new president has not faced serious rumors of an overthrow, at least not yet.
McCarthy insisted that his decision to file a stopgap to fund the government would ensure that American troops would be paid, saying, “I would do the exact same thing again.”
In late October, sports card dealer David Giglio announced a primary challenge against McCarthy for the Republican Party nomination in California’s 20th District, although the incumbent is the heavy favorite.
However, McCarthy’s recent Republican predecessors left Congress after resigning from the speaker’s gavel: Ohio’s John Boehner resigned in 2015 amid an attempted Freedom Caucus mutiny, while Wisconsin’s Paul Ryan opted for not compete for re-election in 2018 ahead of the Democrats. ‘ inauguration of the House.
McCarthy’s impeachment marked the first time in American history that a sitting president was removed by a House vote.
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