Republican congressman Matt Gaetz lashed out at House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) after the New York Times published audio of the top two House Republicans venting their frustration with the Florida lawmaker over comments he made post Jan. 6.
“Rep McCarthy and Rep. Scalise held views about President Trump and me that they shared on sniveling calls with Liz Cheney, not us. This is the behavior of weak men, not leaders,” Gaetz wrote on Twitter.
The New York Times reported Tuesday that McCarthy and Scalise were heard on a recording of a Jan. 10 phone call with Republican House leadership venting their frustration with some Republican lawmakers and their rhetoric after the Jan. 6 insurrection.
McCarthy said Gaetz was “putting people in jeopardy.”
“And he doesn’t need to be doing this. We saw what people would do in the Capitol, you know, and these people came prepared with rope, with everything else,” he continued.
Scalise suggested that what Gaetz was doing “could potentially be illegal,” adding “this is serious shit.”
“On the bright side, you no longer have to be a lobbyist with a $5,000 check to know what McCarthy and Scalise really think,” Gaetz said in his statement on Tuesday. “You just have to listen to their own words as they disparage Trump and the Republicans in Congress who fight for him.”
