Matt Gaetz
Matt Gaetz (Photo: Shutterstock)

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla) is currently attending the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. 

GOP Presidential nominee Donald Trump, following last Saturday’s assassination attempt, has called for “unity”. However, Gaetz apparently missed the memo. He grabbed an opportunity yesterday to try and humiliate his nemesis: former speaker Kevin McCarthy. 

As McCarthy gave an interview to CNN, Gaetz happened to be nearby. Spotting McCarthy, Gaetz taunted him by asking, “What night are you speaking? Are you speaking tonight?” 

McCarthy is not due to address the convention, as Gaetz presumably knows. 

Gaetz then went on to yell at McCarthy that if he were to give a speech, he would be “booed off” stage. 

At this point, a bystander calmly tells Gaetz, “Shut up, Gaetz. Get out of here … don’t be an a**hole. You’re an a**hole”

Gaetz, lacking a quick comeback, says he doesn’t know who the guy is and slopes away. 

Watch below. 

And here Gaetz is put in his place.

Many expressed amusement at Gaetz’s retreat when confronted.

Simmering feud

The beef between Gaetz and McCarthy goes back some time. It was Gaetz’s motion to vacate that forced a vote that led to McCarthy’s ousting as House Speaker last year. His 270-day tenure in the role is the third shortest in the history of the House of Representatives. 

Gaetz continues to undergo a prolonged, long-running investigation by the Ethics Committee. It’s looking at allegations he engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use.

Gaetz vehemently denies the allegations and calls them a smear against him. He is believed to be unhappy with McCarthy for not acting to end the Ethics Committee investigation.

“This is Soviet. Kevin McCarthy showed them the man, and they are now trying to find the crime,” Gaetz wrote on X last month. “I work for Northwest Floridians who won’t be swayed by this nonsense and McCarthy and his goons know it.”

This is despite the fact the Ethics Committee probe was launched in April 2021, long before McCarthy became speaker. 

Gaetz the Grandstander

Gaetz has often tried to act tough to people in positions of authority. He usually comes off looking worse. A couple of years ago, during a committee hearing, he attempted to attack military chiefs for allowing the armed forces to become “woke”. 

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, was having none of it. 

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