A remarkable exchange between Republican firebrand Rep. Matt Gaetz and ousted former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy took place at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee Tuesday, with Gaetz verbally taunting his former boss as he attempted to do interviews.
In a clip posted on social media by NewsNation’s Joe Khalil, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) can be seen repeatedly trying to interrupt former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy as he’s being interviewed by a CNN reporter on the convention floor, loudly delivering the same taunt over and over as he realizes it’s failing to land.
“Hey, Kevin, what night are you speaking?” Gaetz yells, physically butting his way into the conversation.
McCarthy, who is not scheduled to speak at the convention, doesn’t respond.
“What night are you speaking?” Gaetz repeats.
McCarthy ignores him and proceeds with the interview, prompting Gaetz to try again: “Are you speaking tonight? No?”
A bystander pushes him away from the scrum. Undeterred, Gaetz barrels back in a third time.
“If you took that stage, you would get booed off of it,” he yells at McCarthy over a man’s shoulder, forcing the man to turn his head to avoid what appears to be Gaetz’s spittle.
CNN’s own footage of the interview shows the former speaker was completely undeterred and almost seems not to notice Gaetz.
As Gaetz turns to leave, he’s confronted by an unidentified person who witnessed the interaction.
“Hey,” the man says, getting Gaetz’s attention. “Don’t be an asshole.” Gaetz can be seen shaking his head as the man quietly repeats himself: “Don’t be an asshole.”
Kahlil, who captured the exchange, said McCarthy told him afterward that Gaetz is upset because McCarthy wouldn’t end the ethics investigation into allegations Gaetz paid for sex with a minor.
Last month, the House Ethics Committee said it is expanding its investigation into the Florida Republican, saying in a statement that Gaetz may have “engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, accepted improper gifts, dispensed special privileges and favors to individuals with whom he had a personal relationship, and sought to obstruct government investigations of his conduct.”