The Republican National Convention is a chance for the GOP to unite in their efforts to defeat the Left. But the opposite of unity happened.
As a fight breaks out on the RNC floor that left attendees utterly shocked.
After former President Donald Trump nearly avoided assassination last weekend, the Republican Party has made it a point to rally behind Trump in an effort to unify their base.
But it doesn’t seem like every Republican is interested in that message of unity.
In fact, two prominent GOP members decided to go at it on the floor of the Republican National Convention on Tuesday. It was an incident that sparked quite a bit of controversy.
McCarthy and Gaetz Spar Once Again
During the Republican National Convention on Tuesday evening, Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., unexpectedly interrupted former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s interview on CNN. McCarthy was discussing party unity with anchor Kaitlan Collins when Gaetz, his political adversary, made an unplanned appearance.
“What you’re seeing here is a more united Republican Party,” the former California representative was saying when Gaetz intruded into the frame.
In the video, McCarthy seemed to be reflecting on his ouster as Speaker when Gaetz interjected, “What night are you speaking? Are you speaking tonight?”
Ignoring Gaetz’s interruption, McCarthy continued addressing Collins, “The person who raised the issue, he‘s got an ethics complaint about paying, sleeping with a 17-year-old. That‘s the way they would go, so that‘s the biggest challenge we have.”
Gaetz shot back, “If you took that stage you would get booed off of it.”
When NBC News Now asked McCarthy about the incident, he remarked, “I think it shows exactly who Matt Gaetz is.”
“Well, it’s all about, he had an ethics complaint four years ago that he paid an underage girl and she has come to [the House Ethics Committee],” McCarthy elaborated. “And he came to me to try to leverage me to stop the ethics investigation. That’s illegal, I’m not doing that. If I had to lose my job over holding up the law. He tried to utilize that I kept government open. Think about that, I kept government open and he tried to make a motion to remove me.”
McCarthy added, “Look, everybody has different people in their party. Unfortunately, Matt happens to be here. I think at the end of the day, he probably shouldn’t be on the streets.”
The animosity between Gaetz and McCarthy is well-documented. Gaetz played a pivotal role in McCarthy’s ouster, questioning his commitment to conservative values. In October, Gaetz filed a “motion to vacate,” accusing McCarthy of ineffective leadership, collaborating with Democrats, and neglecting conservative principles. The motion passed with a 216-210 vote, a historic first in U.S. history for the removal of a sitting speaker by such a vote.
“We’re concerned about the future of the conservative agenda in the House,” Gaetz stated at the time. “I would say that the conservative agenda was being paralyzed by Speaker McCarthy.”
McCarthy dubbed the Republican coalition that joined Democrats in his removal as “The Gaetz Eight.”
“What Matt Gaetz did has broken the Republican majority. He’s now created ‘Lord of the Flies.’ Ask anybody inside our conference; they actually know it,” McCarthy said.
In December 2023, two months after his unprecedented removal as Speaker, McCarthy announced his resignation.
Meanwhile, in June, the House Ethics Committee intensified its investigation into Gaetz for alleged s*xual misconduct, illicit drug use, acceptance of improper gifts, granting special favors to personal acquaintances, and attempting to obstruct government probes into his actions. The investigation follows a years-long inquiry by the Department of Justice (DOJ) into claims that Gaetz had a relationship with an underage girl. In 2023, the DOJ chose not to press charges against Gaetz.
The committee noted that Gaetz denies all allegations.
Stay tuned to The Federalist Wire.
