#Gaetz hits back at McCarthy claim that critics are ‘not conservatives’

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) shot back at Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) after the former Speaker said the Republicans who voted to oust him Tuesday “don’t get to say they’re conservative because they’re angry and chaotic.”

Gaetz led a group of eight Republicans who voted with all House Democrats to pass a motion to vacate the Speakership. He said McCarthy was weak in appropriations negotiations, including by passing a budget continuing resolution with bipartisan support.

“What Kevin McCarthy believes about governing is that we have to utilize these continuing resolutions and if the continuing resolution is conservative enough, if you hang some bells and whistles on it, then that really ought to be able to pacify people who are right-leaning throughout the country,” Gaetz said in a Fox News interview late Tuesday.

“I believe the only way to achieve programmatic reform and to put downward pressure on spending is to do what was done back in the 90s, where every individual bill is conferenced and debated and subject to amendment,” he continued. “And of course you have to compromise and of course you have to govern.”

McCarthy first disparaged the group in a speech after the vote Tuesday. In a later press conference, McCarthy said his Republican challengers should not call themselves conservatives.

“They are not conservatives, and they do not have the right to have the title,” McCarthy said.

Gaetz and McCarthy’s Republican opponents have generally cited his decision to pass a continuing resolution Saturday as their main reason for voting to oust him. Ultimately, that last-second resolution passed the House with more Democratic support than Republican, avoiding a government shutdown.

“The American people need a Speaker who will fight to keep the promises Republicans made to get the majority, not someone who cuts fiscally irresponsible deals that get more Democrat votes than Republican votes,” Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.), who voted to oust McCarthy, said in a statement before the vote.

In the same speech, McCarthy announced that he would not attempt to become Speaker again. The GOP conference will have a candidate forum next Tuesday to select their pick for the role, with Speaker Pro Tem Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) presiding.