The animosity between former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) was on display again Tuesday, when the latter interrupted an interview between McCarthy and CNN on the floor of the Republican National Convention to mock him about not having a speaking gig at the event.
The pair have been sparring for more than a year. Gaetz told colleagues that he led the effort to remove McCarthy as speaker last fall after the then-California congressman revived a House Ethics Committee probe into sex trafficking allegations against him, The Daily Beast reported in January. For his part, McCarthy has said that Gaetz “belongs in jail,” and at a Georgetown University event in April, told attendees that he is no longer speaker because “one person wanted me to stop an ethics complaint because he slept with a 17-year-old.” That congressional probe is ongoing. Federal prosecutors decided not to charge Gaetz in February 2023, and Gaetz has maintained his innocence.
All that came to the forefront during a hostile exchange Tuesday in Milwaukee. As McCarthy was speaking to CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, Gaetz burst into frame, badgering McCarthy with rhetorical questions about when he would be speaking at the convention.
