Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said in a Thursday interview with CNN’s Manu Raju that Republican South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace has not “earned the right” to win reelection.
Kevin McCarthy Says Nancy Mace Has Not ‘Earned The Right’ To Win Reelection
[Screenshot/CNN]
Nicole Silverio
Media Reporter
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Mace is among the eight House Republicans who voted with every congressional Democrat to oust McCarthy as speaker in an Oct. 3 vote. McCarthy railed against “crazy eight” congressional members who voted to oust him, and criticized Mace for her record in Congress.
“If you’ve watched just her philosophy and the flip-flopping, yeah I don’t believe she wins reelection. I don’t think she’ll probably have earned the right to get reelected,” McCarthy said.
During the interview with Raju, McCarthy suggested that Mace and GOP Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee voted to remove him because they were more concerned about “press” than “policy.”
“It seemed out of nature, but they seem to have changed during a time. They care a lot about press, not about policy, so they seem to just want the press and the personality,” the former speaker said.
He also slammed Republican Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, who filed the motion to vacate that cost McCarthy his gavel. The former speaker said Gaetz lacks a “conservative bent in his philosophy” and should face consequences from Republican conference for his role in deposing McCarthy.
Raju noted after the interview that he reached out to the lawmakers McCarthy criticized, with all three issuing scathing responses. Mace doubled down on her vote to remove McCarthy, accusing him of “lying all the time to her.” Burchett called the former speaker “bitter” and predicted that he would “enter into a successful job in lobbying.” Gaetz sardonically offered McCarthy his “thoughts and prayers … as he works through his grief.” (RELATED: Rep. Nancy Mace Says She Empathizes With Matt Gaetz’s Effort To Oust Speaker McCarthy)
GOP Reps. Andy Biggs of Arizona, Ken Buck of Colorado, Eli Crane of Arizona, Bob Good of Virginia and Matt Rosendale of Montana joined with Gaetz, Mace, Burchett and every congressional Democrat in voting to unseat McCarthy.
The House had no speaker for about two weeks as it failed to elect three separate nominees: Reps. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, Jim Jordan of Ohio and Tom Emmer of Minnesota. House Republicans unanimously elected Republican Louisiana Rep. Mike Johnson in an Oct. 25 vote.