- The Tennessee Republican called McCarthy “pathetic” and said “you have no courage” after the FMR spokesman allegedly shoved him during Tuesday’s heated argument
- Burchett told reporters he had ongoing pain from the jab: “It was a clean shot to the kidney.”
Ousted House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has been accused of elbowing his colleague Tim Burchett in an extraordinary physical confrontation in Congress.
Burchett is one of the eight Republicans who voted out McCarthy, and Burchett told that the hallway brawl was their first interaction since McCarthy was removed from the speakership.
The Tennessee Republican called McCarthy “pathetic” and said “you have no courage” after the former speaker allegedly shoved him during Tuesday’s heated argument.
McCarthy later denied pushing Burchett.
“If I hit someone, they would notice.” “If I hit someone in the kidneys, they would be on the ground,” McCarthy told reporters.
The ousted House speaker has been accused of elbowing his colleague Tim Burchett during a physical altercation in Congress
The incident reportedly occurred while McCarthy was at the Capitol with his security detail NPR reporter Claudia Grisaleswho was there at the time.
Burchett later confirmed that her account of the incident was accurate.
Burchett jokingly responded as McCarthy continued, “Sorry, Kevin didn’t mean to elbow-” and then seriously yelled, “Why did you elbow me in the back, Kevin?!” Hey Kevin, do you have courage!?” Grisales tweeted.
“You’re a pathetic man, you’re so pathetic,” Burchett told McCarthy, according to Grisales.
After the incident, Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Florida, who was not present at the incident, filed a formal ethics complaint against McCarthy.
Burchett later told reporters that the jab was not meant as a joke and was hard enough that he could still feel it.
“It was a clean shot in the kidney,” he said.
Burchett is one of the eight Republicans who voted out McCarthy, and the two have had an extremely frosty relationship since October
Of McCarthy, Burchett said, “He’s just a bully with $17 million and a security guard.”
“He’s beaten and he knows it.” “All his tricks to throw us into chaos didn’t work,” Burchett said, referring to whispers that McCarthy was quietly working to undermine candidates who were his Aim for successor in the election campaign for the speakers.
Burchett scoffed when asked if he would file a motion to censure McCarthy for his assault.
“Damn, man, I’m from East Tennessee.” If I can do it, we’ll do it out in the parking lot. Look, I’m not going to fight or anything. It would be a very short fistfight, I can tell you that.’
The Tennessee Republican continued: “It’s like a child throwing a rock over a fence, running home and hiding behind his mother’s skirt.” He has his security guards around him so no one can do anything. Why he still has the security detail is the question.”
Asked whether he thought McCarthy would finish his term as a rank-and-file member, Burchett told : “I don’t know. ‘I would say he’ll make money, right?’
Kevin McCarthy is accused of elbowing and shoving his colleague Tim Burchett in extraordinary scenes in Congress