McCarthy Tells CNN That 2 of His Colleagues Should No Longer Be in Congress

CNN’s chief congressional correspondent spoke to former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Thursday, and the former speaker had some choice words for some of his fellow Republicans.

Manu Raju told CNN’s Dana Bash Thursday that there was “no love lost” between McCarthy and those who voted to oust him from the speakership on October 3.

Speaking specifically of Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, McCarthy said the Republican Party would be “tremendously” better off if Gaetz lost his House seat.

He had a similar comment to make about South Carolina’s Nancy Mace, predicting that she’d lose her seat in next year’s election.

“If you’ve watched her, just her philosophy, and the flip-flopping, I don’t believe she wins reelection,” McCarthy said.

“People have to earn the right to be here,” McCarthy said of Gaetz. “And I just think from — I mean he’ll admit to you personally. He doesn’t have a conservative bent in his philosophy. And just the nature of what he focuses on.”

McCarthy said he didn’t expect House Republicans “will ever heal if there’s no consequences [for Gaetz] for the action.”

The former speaker argued that Mace, Gaetz and Tennessee’s Tim Burchett weren’t interested in pushing conservative policy, but in getting the kind of media attention that would help them get reelected.

“They care a lot about press, not about policy, and so they seem to just want the press and the personality,” he said.

Watch:

New — Spoke to Kevin McCarthy. Had some choice words for “crazy eight” Rs. Said GOP won’t “ever heal” unless there are “consequences”

Said GOP would benefit “tremendously” if Gaetz wasn’t in House.

And says Nancy Mace doesn’t deserve to win reelect.

Full intvw: 11aET Sunday pic.twitter.com/7xCBKi5HjL

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) November 9, 2023

When Raju reached out to the three Republicans, they didn’t hesitate to fire back at their former leader.

Gaetz responds: “Thoughts and prayers to the former speaker as he works through his grief.”

In response, Mace said McCarthy “lied all the time.”

And Burchett said McCarthy was “bitter.”

“He’ll enter into a successful job in lobbying.”

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) November 9, 2023

“I mean, this was a guy who lied all the time, like every day,” Mace told CNN. “I mean, he told conservatives he was absolutely gonna impeach Joe Biden. Two hours later, the same day, told moderates that he would never impeach Joe Biden, a guy like that can’t lead our country. And we’ve moved on to a much better speaker who’s honest and trustworthy and is going to tell the truth.”

“I raise $6 million every two years for my reelection campaign,” she added, arguing that McCarthy’s role in raising money for her previous campaigns wasn’t as important to her as he seemed to think it was. “I know exactly how to raise money. I know exactly how to run — women can run and women can win, Kevin McCarthy — surprise.”

The entire CNN interview with McCarthy will air Sunday on CNN’s “Inside Politics.”