Despite former President Donald Trump slamming Rep. Matt Gaetz’s (R-FL) move to oust Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) from his position as House Speaker, Gaetz claims that his conversations with Trump give him “great confidence” that he’s “doing the right thing.”
“The reason that Kevin McCarthy went down today is because nobody trusts Kevin McCarthy,” Gaetz claimed to reporters. “Kevin McCarthy has made multiple promises. When they came due, he lost votes to people that maybe don’t ideologically agree with me on everything. Take my colleague from South Carolina. Mrs. Mace. She has different views than I do on a variety of subjects. What we had in common, Kevin McCarthy lied to all of us.”
“I’d say the conservative agenda was being paralyzed by Kevin McCarthy,” Gaetz said. “Our oversight was lackluster, our spending priorities were misaligned. The top-line budget was going to lead to more inflation, more debt. More challenges. The best way to advance the conservative agenda is move forward with a new speaker.”
Gaetz was successful in his attempt to remove McCarthy from the position due to unanimous support from Democrats.
The 216-210 vote was the first time ever in U.S. history that the House ever removed a speaker. Seven other Republicans joined the House Democrats to oust McCarthy, including: Reps. Andy Biggs (AZ), Ken Buck (CO), Eli Crane (AZ), Bob Good (VA), Matt Rosendale (MT), Tim Burchett (TN), and Nancy Mace (SC).
The move caused outrage among most Republicans, including Trump who slammed the decision on Truth Social.
“Why is it that Republicans are always fighting among themselves, why aren’t they fighting the Radical Left Democrats who are destroying our Country?” Trump wrote on social media.