Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy fired off at former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) on Sunday, saying he lied to President-elect Trump about what was in the House Ethics Committee report and that lie allegedly led to him not making the cut for attorney general.
McCarthy shared his thoughts on Gaetz, who he has had a long history of going back and forth with, during his appearance on Fox News.
“No one thought that [the nomination] would pass,” McCarthy said. “I blame Matt Gaetz for lying to the president about his ethics report. People know that. That’s why he made the motion against me. People know.”
It's still unknown what was in the ethics report, but whatever it was seemed to disqualify Gaetx for the job he sought as Trump's attorney general. For background on McCarthy's beef with him know that has accused Gaetz of leading the October 2023 effort to oust him because he would not stop the ethics committee’s investigation into the Florida Republican.
For his part, Gaetz has said that McCarthy failed as the leader of the House to push the conservative agenda, like spending cuts.
The ethics report, which remains sealed, helped play a part in Gaetz’s decision to step down as Trump’s nominee for attorney general. Gaetz promptly resigned from office after he was nominated, and his future in politics remains uncertain at this time.
Audacy previously reported on a leak from the ethics committee’s report, which said that a lawyer for two women told the panel they saw Gaetz “having sex with a minor.”
McCarthy said last week, and again on Sunday, that he thinks Gaetz was looking for an excuse to resign from Congress and that the nomination from Trump was the perfect opportunity.
“That’s why he’s not capable of even staying in Congress. He needed an excuse to resign because the ethics report would be done in a couple of days,” he said. “And that’s unfortunate. But it’s a better Congress today where they’re going forward.”