Wednesday, during an appearance on FNC’s “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) reacted to heat-of-the-moment comments reportedly made by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) that blamed him and his colleague Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL), in part, for the January 6, 2021 Capitol Hill riot.
Gaetz warned if House Republicans accepted Democrats’ narratives and reacted as Democrats, it would be a win for Democrats even if the GOP takes power in Congress later this year.
Partial transcript as follows:
CARLSON: Matt Gaetz is a Florida Congressman, as noted, he was there today. He joins us now. Congressman, thanks so much for coming on. So you were accused by Kevin McCarthy, the guy who is in line to be Speaker of the House of committing an act of violence by giving your opinion, by saying he was against the former President like is speech violence? What do you make of this?
REP. MATT GAETZ (R-FL): Well, I was just describing the facts. You had a group of people who are going to try to join with Democrats to impeach President Trump and that is precisely what has played out.
You mentioned, he is in line to be Speaker. I mean, I don’t know that Kevin McCarthy is in line to be Speaker. I don’t know if the guy could get an account on truth social at this point based on the inconsistency between the recordings and what he says to us.
And it is debasing for Republicans to give this guy a standing ovation after he smears Trump, lies to the country, and then tries to sic Big Tech and the D.O.J. on Members of Congress whose views he doesn’t agree with and whose factual representations are ultimately born out.
And the crazy thing about this, Tucker, is that it was all done for the sake of protecting Liz Cheney. I mean, at the time, I was protecting President Trump from impeachment and Kevin McCarthy was protecting Liz Cheney from criticism, and now she is owning them with their own words.
And maybe Liz Cheney has done us a favor, because now finally, you don’t have to be a lobbyist with a $5,000.00 check to know what Kevin McCarthy and Steve Scalise, really think. You know, I was upfront about the fact that I was going to politically oppose Liz Cheney.
I went to Wyoming. I made my case there. This notion that you can have these sniveling calls and try to foment action against Republicans by Big Tech and the D.O.J. is not fitting of leadership.
CARLSON: Well, that oh, that’s exactly right. I mean, you can represent Republican voters if you’re personally annoyed with Trump, okay. But you could not represent Republican leaders if you’re calling on Big Tech to censor voices who criticize you and if you’re accusing people who criticize you of committing an illegal act of violence, and Steve Scalise did.
Now, you saw Scalise today, did he apologize to you for that?
GAETZ: He said it was he was sorry if it caused many problems, but what I said to Steve Scalise is that if you accused someone of potentially breaking the law, and by the way, he wasn’t reacting to something, he raised the prospect of the illegality of my statement that Liz Cheney was anti-Trump. I know I really went out on a limb there, Tucker. But if you accuse someone of breaking the law, you have to say what law you think they broke, and you have to present what evidence you think you have.
And if there is no evidence, you need to acknowledge that. And if not, then you’re like maintaining this fiction for the sake of your own pride and that’s not what leaders do.
CARLSON: But what you’re doing is reading the other side’s script? I mean, listen to these guys talk and they sound like MSNBC contributors. I’m so triggered. He criticized me. That’s a crime. We should boot him off, we should censor him.
I mean, they’re equating speech with violence, calling for censorship, and describing disagreement as a criminal act. How is that not — how are these people not liberals? That’s what liberals say. Like, what is this?
GAETZ: Well you see, I will be the one criticized because people will say this is divisive. We should be unified against the Democrats. The problem is, the Democrats win if Republicans take power, and then think and talk and behave just like the Democrats.
So, I’m presenting an alternative vision, and it would be nice if the leadership wasn’t the lagging indicator on these things. They were the last ones to realize that Liz Cheney should have been tossed out of leadership. I was out there making the case and ultimately, they caught up, but leaders lead from the front, they are not the lagging indicator.
CARLSON: Yes, you just feel so sorry for Republican voters. I mean, no one is standing up for them. They’re totally exposed, some are still in jail and the guidance was to lead them to freedom, it sounds like a Joy Reid staffer. It’s very distressing, and I — anyway, sorry.
Mr. Gaetz, I appreciate your coming on tonight and for your willingness to be open about what you’ve seen, thank you.
GAETZ: Thank you, Tucker.
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