A number of Democratic officials have called out House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy for his insensitive comments. Over the course of the weekend, McCarthy claimed it would be “hard not to hit” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with the speaker’s gavel.
His comments came in response to the ignited hope of Republicans winning back the House chamber in the coming year’s midterm elections. McCarthy was given an oversized gavel by the Republican members of the Congress at a Nashville fundraiser, after which, he proceeded to comment on the White House speaker.
“I want you to watch Nancy Pelosi hand me that gavel. It will be hard not to hit her with it,”
remarked a confident Kevin McCarthy. The remark was met well by the 1,400 people sitting in the audience, as heard in the audio recording posted by a Nashville reporter on Twitter.
Kevin McCarthy’s comments involving Pelosi come nearly seven months after the Jan 6 attack on the Capitol, where devout Trump supporters mocked her by chanting “Where’s Nancy?” while she was escorted out. At the same time, a man armed with a taser had casually put his feet up on a desk in her office.
Pelosi’s representative, Drew Hammill took to Twitter to point out the “threat of violence” ensued on the victim of the January 6 assassination attempt. Additionally, Hammill also added how the comments put forth by McCarthy were no less than “disgusting.”
Despite the severe backlash, McCarthy’s office continues to remain silent on the issue. However, an aide to the House GOP Leader said that the remark was only meant as a joke, and nothing more. McCarthy himself has declined to comment.
Several of Pelosi’s colleagues have called out McCarthy, asking him to resign from his post. California Rep Eric Swalwell tweeted that the GOP Leader is an “assailant” of Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Another rep, Ted Lieu has questioned McCarthy on his choice of words, asking him about the current situation being violent enough to begin with.
Other Democrats have also questioned McCarthy and asked him to issue an apology to Speaker Pelosi. On the contrary, Republicans have stayed silent for the most part. New York Rep Hakeem Jefferies took to Twitter and affirmed how violence directed at women is “no laughing matter.”
