House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) drew the wrath of former GOP strategist Steve Schmidt on Sunday in response to McCarthy’s apparent desire to commit violence against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
As the 1/6 Select Committee continues to investigate the Capitol insurrection and whether or not several Republican lawmakers were involved with the attempt to violently overthrow democracy, McCarthy was presented the gift of a gavel by Tennessee Republicans that says “Fire Pelosi” on it.
Rather than simply accept the gavel and exercise humility, McCarthy made a disgusting remark that should at least result in an ethics complaint.
“It will be hard not to hit her with it but I will bang it down,” he said.
There are already Republicans in the House who want Pelosi to be assassinated, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Co.). It should also be pointed out that the insurrectionists were actively looking for Pelosi so they could murder her on January 6th. McCarthy has refused to punish either congresswoman for their threats and rhetoric, and it’s pretty clear by his own words that he’s also a security threat to Pelosi.
Steve Schmidt certainly took McCarthy’s statement seriously, and he took him to the woodshed for it on Twitter.
I’d like to make a couple of points with regard to the👇discussion below. @JohnJHarwood is one of the best journalists and commentators in America and I think it is important to delve deeply into @GOPLeader McCarthy’s violent fantasy around assaulting an 81 year old woman, https://t.co/Bnm9nTmsRP
— Steve Schmidt (@SteveSchmidtSES) August 1, 2021
a grandmother, a Constitutional Officer third in line to the Presidency, the Speaker of the House, @SpeakerPelosi. He did this in front of a crowd of 1400 cheering Republican extremists in Nashville Tennessee. I don’t think it should be framed as an echo of Trump but rather
— Steve Schmidt (@SteveSchmidtSES) August 1, 2021
for what it is, an embrace of violence for the purposes of political power. Kevin McCarthy shouldn’t be given the benefit of the doubt. He is one of the greatest bad faith actors to ever hold political power in this country, he is manifestly unfit at a moral level as he has
— Steve Schmidt (@SteveSchmidtSES) August 1, 2021
broken faith with the ideals and ideas of the country in a sick partnership with Trump. They are the leader of a Nationalist and Autocratic movement that teems with liars and violent thugs. McCarthy’s opportunism led to a brief crisis of conscience around his thermonuclear
— Steve Schmidt (@SteveSchmidtSES) August 1, 2021
Cynicism when he momentarily believed the ball might bounce towards universal revulsion around the murderous insurrection and he blamed Trump. That is all the evidence that will ever be needed to prove that he is a willing participant in an ongoing attack on our way of life.
— Steve Schmidt (@SteveSchmidtSES) August 1, 2021
Trump has found his fanatics. McCarthy has embraced them and violence is always at the core of these movements. None of this is accidental. It is deliberate and purposeful. It is occurring 7 months after 1/6. McCarthy has become poisoned by hate, ambition and a thirst for power.
— Steve Schmidt (@SteveSchmidtSES) August 1, 2021
Some House Republicans are not only traitors and cult members, they are terrorists who have no business holding public office. They are literally trying to incite violence against Democratic lawmakers and leaders in an effort to seize power. They should be arrested and prosecuted because it’s the only way to keep this country and democracy truly safe.
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