McCarthy hits back after Matt Gaetz-led coup to oust him: ‘You know it was personal’

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Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday hit back at the Florida backbencher who engineered his ousting just hours before, telling reporters at a press conference that the unprecedented vote to remove him from his leadership post was called for as part of a personal grudge.

Mr McCarthy, a California Republican, was stripped of his office as the highest-ranking member of the GOP in the US government after eight of his own party joined with 208 Democrats in a parliamentary manoeuvre that hadn’t been tried in over a century, known as a motion to vacate the chair.

The eight insurgents, led by Florida congressman Matt Gaetz, claimed that Mr McCarthy was untrustworthy because he allowed the House to avert a government shutdown on Saturday by approving legislation to keep the government running for the next 45 days.

But Mr McCarthy said Mr Gaetz was lying about his motivations when he addressed reporters late on Tuesday.

“You know it was personal. It had nothing to do about spending,” he said.

He pointed out that Mr Gaetz was fundraising off of his move, calling the decision “not governing” and “not becoming of a member of Congress”.

He added that the Floridian’s animus towards him stemmed from the existence of an investigation by the House Ethics Committee into allegations that he consumed illegal drugs and sex trafficked an underage girl.

“Regardless of what you think ... it was all about his ethics,” he said.

The former Speaker, who will remain in the House but will not seek to reclaim his former post, said he does not regret allowing the stopgap funding bill which passed the House on Saturday to do so with Democratic votes.

“Doing the right thing isn’t always easy, but it is necessary ... I don’t regret standing up for choosing governance over grievance ... I do not regret negotiating for government is designed to find compromise, I don’t regret my efforts to build coalitions and find solutions. I was raised to solve problems, not create them,” he said.

“So I may have lost the vote today, but as I walk out of this chamber, I feel fortunate to have served the American people”.