Florida Rep. Matt Gatez dropped by Newsmax’s Wake Up America to discuss the tumult in the House and why he’s taking a hardline with Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy.
“The issue is Kevin McCarthy purposefully backed us up against the wall where government funding was running out, and we hadn’t passed single-subject spending bills,” Gaetz said during his appearance.
“So, we’re now trying to do work to correct the failures of Kevin McCarthy. Thursday at 3 p.m., while we’re here trying to hammer this stuff out, Kevin McCarthy sent everyone home. This is not the French work week. We’ve got only a few legislative days left before the country runs out of money and you’ve got Kevin McCarthy quite literally punting while we’re trying to move the ball forward. So, I give him no credit for this movement. It has happened in spite of him, not because of him, and we’re going to have to address his leadership after we get through this government funding crisis.”
Gaetz also addressed the possibility of grabbing the gavel himself one day.
“I don’t have anywhere near the votes it would take to be speaker of the House,” he said. “But even though Kevin McCarthy is not doing a good job, and it’s really got us behind schedule and has mismanaged the institution, I am very heartened by some of the work that’s been done just in the last 36 hours, where moderate Republicans are sitting down with conservative Republicans, like myself, and we’re building a path forward.”
Watch the clip below:
"You've got Kevin McCarthy, quite literally, punting while we're trying to move the ball forward. So I give him no credit for this movement. It has happened in spite of him, not because of him." — Matt Gaetz@RepMattGaetz @MattGaetz @RobFinnertyUSA @RichardGrenell pic.twitter.com/R7gMT4qdtZ
— NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) September 22, 2023