Rep Matt Gaetz claps back after Kevin McCarthy takes shots "about who he sleeps with"

Washington DC - Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy made a surprise visit to Capitol Hill and shared his thoughts on the sex trafficking probe into Representative Matt Gaetz, who led the charge that got him ousted. Gaetz has since clapped back.

Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (r.) gave his first press conference on Tuesday since leaving Congress, and took aim at Matt Gaetz, who got him ousted.
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (r.) gave his first press conference on Tuesday since leaving Congress, and took aim at Matt Gaetz, who got him ousted.  © Collage: Anna Moneymaker / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP & Patrick T. Fallon / AFP

On Tuesday, McCarthy gave his first press conference since he was ousted from his position as House Speaker and subsequently resigned from Congress in December.

While answering questions from reporters, McCarthy was asked if he ever spoke to former President Donald Trump about how Gaetz, a self-described MAGA Republican, led a group of eight Republicans to vote him out as speaker.

"I don't know how close you probably think the president is to Gaetz, but you should figure that out," McCarthy responded.

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When pressed further, he suggested Gaetz lies about how close he is to Trump, and added, "He probably lies about who he sleeps with, too."

McCarthy has long claimed that Gaetz went on a mission to have him ousted from Congress because he refused to intervene in a House Ethics Committee probe into allegations of sex trafficking against the Florida Representative, which was recently reopened.

He repeated the accusation on Tuesday, claiming that Gaetz was "very concerned" when allegations against him first came to light, and begged McCarthy "to do something about it."

McCarthy claimed he refused because doing so "would be illegal."

Matt Gaetz claps back after Kevin McCarthy's comments

Kevin McCarthy (r.) speaking to Representative Matt Gaetz in the House Chamber at the US Capitol in January.
Kevin McCarthy (r.) speaking to Representative Matt Gaetz in the House Chamber at the US Capitol in January.  © OLIVIER DOULIERY / AFP

A reporter for Semafor who attended the conference shared a photo of McCarthy on social media along with his quote regarding Gaetz's sex life, which garnered a response from the Florida Representative.

"What stage of grief is this?" Gaetz joked.

The reporter was eventually able to get a statement from Gaetz, who described McCarthy's conference as a visit from "the ghost of Christmas past."

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"Kevin McCarthy apparently said that I wasn't as well liked by President Trump as I thought, but I recall President Trump asking me to go campaign for him in Iowa and [New Hampshire]," Gaetz told the reporter.

Gaetz added that the reason Trump would never extend the same invitation to McCarthy is "because on almost any stage in the Trump campaign, Kevin McCarthy would be booed off of it."

Cover photo: Collage: Anna Moneymaker / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP & Patrick T. Fallon / AFP

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