DeSantis Says He Opposed McCarthy “Before it Was Cool”

WASHINGTON, D.C. — As the U.S. House voted Tuesday to strip Kevin McCarthy (R-California) of his Speaker’s gavel, Ron DeSantis reminded voters that he has opposed McCarthy from the outset.

“I opposed McCarthy when it wasn’t cool years ago,” DeSantis said. “He’s really somebody that Donald Trump has backed and put into that position.”

“FAILURE THEATER”

DeSantis said that while Florida’s legislative environment delivers results to make people’s lives better, Washington is “typically failure theater.” According to DeSantis, the country has only a short time left to turn things around.

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) initiated the process of vacating McCarthy for a “brazen breach” of his agreement with House conservatives in January. Citing President Biden’s remarks on Sunday, Gaetz accused McCarthy of making a “secret deal” to provide more funding for Ukraine in a separate measure, which many Republicans oppose.

“The reason Kevin McCarthy went down today is because nobody trusts Kevin McCarthy,” Gaetz told reporters after the vote. “He’s the product of a corrupt system that rewards people who collect large sums of special interest money and then redistribute that money in exchange for political loyalty and political favors.”

After McCarthy’s ousting, Patrick McHenry (R-North Carolina) told former Speaker Nancy Pelosi that she must vacate her Capitol hideaway office by Wednesday – a move that went viral on social media.

A few senior representatives have “hideaway offices” inside the Capitol building, but many are asking why McCarthy allowed Pelosi to keep the coveted office space when Republicans took control of the House in January.

VOTERS WANT RESULTS

Voters are “sick of the talk” and want real results, DeSantis says – noting that he’s uncomfortable with how Gaetz seems to be fundraising off the successful motion to remove McCarthy.

“Well, look, when I see the Republican congressman pointing out that there’s a lot of fundraising going on around that, you know, that makes me uncomfortable,” DeSantis said.

“I think when you’re doing things, you need to be doing it because it’s the right thing to do. It shouldn’t be done with an eye toward trying to generate lists or trying to generate fundraising. That is not the way I would operate,” DeSantis added.

“WE JUST NEED LEADERSHIP”

On the Hugh Hewitt show this morning, DeSantis said yesterday’s drama in the House highlights the desperate need for authentic, results-driven leadership.

“It’s a strong contrast to how we do business in Florida,” DeSantis said. “I think you see a lot of theater, a lot of chaos. I’m not sure it ever leads to any results. Whereas in Florida, everything we do is calculated to deliver outcomes and to create a better life for the people down here.”

When Florida sent four additional Republicans to the House in last year’s midterms, DeSantis says it was one of the best national environments for Republicans to run since the 1940s and Republicans “totally muffed it.”

“I think that this is part of the follow-on from that – but we just need leadership,” DeSantis said. “I think that we need order, we need smooth government operations, and we need to deliver results. That’s what we’ve done in Florida for the last five years, and you see the contrast.”