NO CHILL

McCarthy Publicly Blasts Gaetz When Asked About His Downfall as Speaker

He made the most explicit public comments yet about why he believes he lost the gavel.

Six months on from his bruising removal as House speaker, Kevin McCarthy is apparently no longer pulling any punches when discussing the reasons for his historic ouster. Speaking at an event at Georgetown University on Tuesday night, McCarthy squarely linked his downfall to allegations of sexual misconduct against Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL). He said the reason he’s no longer speaker is because “one person wanted me to stop an ethics complaint because he slept with a 17-year-old,” according to Politico. McCarthy later added: “Did he do it? I don’t know.” McCarthy has previously publicly blamed Gaetz for leading the charge to bring him down over the ethics probe, but the remarks at Georgetown are the most explicit he’s made about the allegations of wrongdoing against the congressman. “Kevin is a liar,” Gaetz told Politico in a statement. “Which, actually, is why he isn’t speaker. Just ask any of the 224 people who voted to remove him.”