Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA) issued a scathing letter mocking Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and other anti-Kevin McCarthy Republicans after they pledged to face censure and punishment in the hopes of getting their desired House Speaker elected.
As Breitbart News reported, seven House Republicans, including Matt Gaetz, pleaded with Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) holdouts that they would gladly “accept censure, suspension, or removal from the Conference” if it meant having Jordan as speaker. The pledge failed and the House still has no Speaker weeks after Matt Gaetz led his successful coup. In a bitingly satirical letter released on Saturday, McClintock went scorched earth by characterizing Gaetz and his ilk as false martyrs.
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), one of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s harshest critics, speaks to reporters on the steps of the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Oct. 2, 2023. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
“Your letter of October 20, in which you graciously offer to martyr yourselves as long as you can get your way, is perhaps the most selfless act in American history,” wrote McClintock. “I was certain that our Republican colleagues ‘who refuse to vote’ with the Republican majority would have been inspired by your stirring example of party discipline and loyalty to ‘vote with the team,’ as you so eloquently phrased it.”
“I was frankly stunned when they did not. I do not understand why a handful of our fellow Republicans couldn’t see the simple fairness of the principle to which you have been so unswerving in your devotion: ‘heads-I-win-tails-you-lose,'” he continued. “We should have been moved by your willingness to suffer ‘censure, suspension, or removal from the conference’ to enforce your personal preferences on the overwhelming majority of your unenlightened colleagues.”
Watch: House Votes to Remove Kevin McCarthy from Speakership
Further characterizing Gaetz and his ilk as narcissistic virtue-signalers who will one day be “vindicated” of their genius when a new messiah comes, he concluded with a call for them to see the damage they have all done to the country.
“With this in mind, I modestly suggest that you plan your martyrdom in the only way that truly matters: to have the wisdom to see the damage you have done to our country and to have the courage to set things right before it is too late,” he wrote.
Paul Roland Bois joined Breitbart News in 2021. He also directed the award-winning feature film, EXEMPLUM, which can be viewed for FREE on YouTube or Tubi. A high-quality, ad-free stream can also be purchased on Google Play or Vimeo on Demand. Follow him on Twitter @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.