Matt Gaetz confronted after heckling Kevin McCarthy: ‘Don’t be an a**hole’

MILWAUKEE (TND) — Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., was confronted by an apparent Republican committeeman Tuesday at the party’s convention in Milwaukee.

In a video posted by political commentator Armstrong Williams, the congressman can be heard interrupting an interview with former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy before a man reported to be Illinois National Committeeman Richard Porter stepped in.

“Shut up Gaetz,” the man said.

Rep. Gaetz had asked McCarthy when he was going to speak at the convention, even though he is not scheduled to deliver any speeches.

As McCarthy continued the interview, the congressman told him the audience would boo him off the stage if he appeared on it. The man who appears to be Porter told Rep. Gaetz not to be an “a**hole.”

“Dude, I don’t even know who you are,” Gaetz said. The man fired back “it doesn’t f***ing matter who I am.”

“Don’t be an a**hole. You’re an a**hole,” the man added.

McCarthy was discussing the state of the GOP since Rep. Gaetz led the effort to oust him from his role as speaker. He claimed the party has become more united after one of the Republicans who sided with Rep. Gaetz resigned.

The Florida congressman, according to McCarthy, is the party’s biggest challenge due to an ethics investigation into his alleged sexual misconduct and illegal drug use. The pair have feuded over McCarthy’s ousting.

“The one person who raised the issue – he’s got an ethics complaint for paying, sleeping with a 17-year-old,” McCarthy said.

In a December op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, the former speaker claimed he performed his job well.

“No matter the odds, or personal cost, we did the right thing. That may seem out of fashion in Washington these days, but delivering results for the American people is still celebrated across the country,” McCarthy wrote.

Rep. Gaetz asserted after the ousting that nobody trusted McCarthy.

“Kevin McCarthy has made multiple contradictory promises, and when they all came due, he lost votes of people who maybe don’t even ideologically agree with me on everything,” the congressman said.

Have questions, concerns or tips? Send them to Ray at rjlewis@sbgtv.com.