Hey, Republicans. Watch your back. A vengeful Kevin McCarthy is out for blood!
Politics :
Once upon a time, Republican Kevin McCarthy lived out his lifelong dream to serve as Speaker of the US House of Representatives. However, widely reported party infighting cut his dream short and McCarthy was kicked out of the speaker’s chair after only 269 days.
Feeling like an outsider within his own party while hating every moment of having to return to Congress as just an ordinary representative, the ex-speaker resigned from politics altogether at the end of 2023. As a parting gift to his colleagues, McCarthy put his detractors on a political “hit list” and vowed to get revenge for ruining his hopes and dreams.
Now, a vengeful Kevin McCarthy is making good on his promises to get even.
According to The New York Times, the former speaker has begun taking out his GOP enemies one by one — ruining them the same way they ruined him.
For example, The Times described a moment during his last days in Congress when McCarthy was standing on the House floor next to GOP Rep. Bob Good of Virginia (one of the 8 Republicans who voted to remove him from power).
“I just traveled to your district,” McCarthy said in what was interpreted as a threatening tone. “It’s a really nice district.”
“Why don’t you come down and spend money there?” Rep. Good, the chairman of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus, taunted in response.
“Oh, I’m going to,” McCarthy retorted. “I might spend $5 million there, too.”
And, that he did.
In the months that followed, McCarthy directed more than $6 million into efforts to defeat Rep. Good, who came up 375 votes short in his recent primary against his GOP challenger.
To date, Good is demanding a recount after claiming there was “inappropriate activity” at ballot drop boxes.
“Bob Good was defeated, but the loser just can’t accept it yet,” said Brian O. Walsh, a top McCarthy ally who is coordinating the ex-speaker’s efforts to unseat the “Crazy Eight” Republicans who crossed him.
“We said there would be consequences and we are persistent and very patient,” Walsh added after making it crystal clear that the former speaker is hell-bent on retribution.
In another example, the vengeful Kevin McCarthy spent more than $4 million in a recent effort to defeat Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina. When his plan didn’t work, the former speaker turned his efforts to promoting ethics allegations against her in hopes of making her unelectable in the future.
McCarthy’s next target is his ultimate nemesis, Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, who is responsible for the week-long battle to select McCarthy as speaker as well as the roll-call vote to remove him.
Putting members of his own party into crosshairs and picking them off one by one is a new role for the now vengeful Kevin McCarthy. After all, he was once known as a consummate team player and prodigious fund-raiser who ate, slept, and drank Republican Party politics.
Apparently, those days are done!
OK WASSUP! discusses Politics:
Vengeful Kevin McCarthy and his GOP hit-list.
Politico: Kevin McCarthy’s vaunted political operation launched its revenge tour against the Republicans who ousted him from the speakership with a multimillion-dollar blitz against Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina. But after Mace crushed her challengers in a Tuesday primary, Republicans in Washington are openly asking: What’s the point of all this? The former speaker’s allies and aligned groups had spent millions attempting to oust Mace, one of eight Republicans who voted to depose McCarthy. “A lot of the stuff is emotion-based and therapy-based rather than fact-based and grounded in reality,” said Rep. Mike Garcia (R-Calif.). “I think whenever you spend money on a losing cause it’s never favorable.” Primaries have always been a tug-of-war between party factions, but the personal vitriol in the Republican Party is remarkable. And the stakes are high: The GOP has held the House majority by just a handful of seats — and the chaos… Read more »