For Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida), who managed to oust his party colleague Kevin McCarthy (R-California) as the House speaker last week, losing his seat in Congress is not too high a price to pay.
Gaetz told NBC’s Kristen Welker during an interview that his success in getting rid of McCarthy was “worth it.”
For months, Gaetz had been threatening to remove McCarthy from the speaker’s office. After McCarthy had a deal with Democrats to avert the government shutdown, Gaetz intensified his efforts against him.
Finally, on October 3, McCarthy became the first speaker in U.S. history to be ousted, when eight Republican lawmakers joined Democrats for his removal.
The House GOP nominated Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) for speaker after Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana) failed to gain enough support from the caucus.
In January, there were 15 rounds of voting over five days before McCarthy was elected as the speaker.
Meanwhile, Gaetz is facing threats of removal from the GOP caucus from some Republicans. When asked about the opposition he faces from within his own party, he said he was elected to Congress with almost 70% of his district’s vote.
