House GOP leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is continuing to garner public mockery from Democrats in the wake of recent antics. After the House voted to remove Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) from his committee spots in response to a violent video that he posted targeting Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) — the edited, partly animated video depicted Gosar murdering Ocasio-Cortez — McCarthy said that Gosar would be reinstated on committees if Republicans win back control of the House. Later, McCarthy spoke for over eight hours straight in opposition to the Build Back Better Act, a socially oriented spending package with provisions to improve health care access, fight climate change, and more. Ocasio-Cortez rhetorically clobbered him on both fronts.
As for McCarthy’s comments about Gosar, Ocasio-Cortez commented as follows:
‘Thank you [GOP Leader] McCarthy for publicly confirming your desire to reward neo-nazi members of Congress who incite violence against women under GOP leadership! I appreciate your clarity. And predictability. Thank you for no longer pretending to distance your caucus from this [trash].’
Thank you @GOPLeader McCarthy for publicly confirming your desire to reward neo-nazi members of Congress who incite violence against women under GOP leadership!
I appreciate your clarity.
And predictability.
Thank you for no longer pretending to distance your caucus from this 🚮 https://t.co/xxpw9u8Unj— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) November 19, 2021
McCarthy has acted as though Gosar apologized for the video, but the Arizona Congressman — whose own brother has called for him to be expelled from Congress at this point — did no such thing. Instead, Gosar self-confidently proclaimed that the video “directly contributes to the understanding and the discussion of the real-life battle resulting from this administration’s open border policies” — which has got to be one of the most laughably self-righteous defenses imaginable for such a video. Gosar has also insisted that he does “not espouse violence or harm towards any Member of Congress or Mr. Biden,” although such violence is literally what was shown in the video, which also depicted Gosar wielding swords against President Joe Biden.
"Let me be clear. I do not condone violence, and representative Gosar has echoed that sentiment," @GOPLeader says.
("I do not espouse violence or harm towards any Member of Congress or Mr. Biden," began the Gosar statement sent 11/8)
— Garrett Haake (@GarrettHaake) November 17, 2021
As for McCarthy’s rambling speech against the Build Back Better Act — which the GOP leader orchestrated to extend longer than a certain speech by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who’d set the record for the longest continuous House speech in modern history — Ocasio-Cortez remained unimpressed. As the Congresswoman put it to reporter Andrew Solender:
‘McCarthy may have been auditioning for his base, but he was not auditioning for any sort of respect… I think he wanted to say he did it longer than Nancy Pelosi, but if he wanted to out-do her, he should’ve done it in stilettos.’
“McCarthy may have been auditioning for his base, but he was not auditioning for any sort of respect,” @AOC tells me of McCarthy’s speech.
“I think he wanted to say he did it longer than Nancy Pelosi, but if he wanted to out-do her, he should’ve done it in stilettos.”
— Andrew Solender (@AndrewSolender) November 19, 2021
Pelosi’s lengthy speech had been in support of “Dreamers,” a nickname for undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children. McCarthy’s remarks, in contrast, were meant to stall the passage of a bill that would provide tangible benefits to the American people like lowering the price of insulin. There’s a big difference between the two.
