Kevin McCarthy is having a great time.
He is roaming around the country giving six-figure speeches, playing the role of pundit and big politician on TV, giving speeches high-brow political platform And, at the very least, plotting retribution against those behind it. Unofficial removal as House Speaker.
Eight Republican lawmakers joined 208 Democrats in voting to oust the former Bakersfield congressman, the first time in history a House leader was voted out. Rather than stay, McCarthy left office at the end of 2023.
Two of the eight Republicans are joining him in retirement. Three others – Virginia’s Bob Good, Arizona’s Eli Crane and South Carolina’s Nancy Mace – face strong primary challenges. McCarthy has been working behind the scenes to sabotage his congressional career, strategizing and directing money and other resources to his opponents.
“He wants to hold accountable the people who pushed him out,” said one Central Valley political activist who has a decades-long relationship with McCarthy.
Like most, the moderator asked not to be named, in order to maintain good relations with the former speaker. McCarthy declined to grant interviews, perhaps because of these methods – Abal, morally bankrupt – your friendly columnist has described him.
McCarthy’s main enemy, according to several people who have spoken to him, is Representative Matt Gaetz, who was The main catalyst for McCarthy’s downfall, The rancorous Florida Republican is in little danger of losing his House seat, but he could run for governor in 2026.
During an appearance at Georgetown University this month, McCarthy blasted Gaetz deeply, insisting that the only reason he lost the speech was because “a guy wanted me to file an ethics complaint because he was with a 17-year-old.” was asleep.”
“Did he do it?” McCarthy continued after claiming the whole world was his. “I don’t know.”
The reference was to allegations that Gaetz paid for sex, including a relationship with an underage girl, while in Congress. Justice Department investigates Florida lawmaker and decided not to press charges, The House Ethics Committee is continuing its investigation.
Gaetz fired back on social media, saying, “McCarthy is a liar.” “That’s why he’s no longer the speaker.”
McCarthy is completely a political animal and it’s his job to give speeches was very keen on his career, His tenure – less than nine months – lasted barely long enough to pose for the portrait that would someday hang in the Capitol.
But now, one political aide said, McCarthy feels free. He is no longer responsible for taking care of a razor-thin Republican majority – over to you, Mike Johnson! — and devote himself entirely to what has long been McCarthy’s specialty: campaigns and elections.
He remains close to many of the lawmakers he recruited and helped get into office and remains in touch with the nationwide donor network he built during years as one of the GOP’s top congressional strategists.
Undoubtedly, maintaining Republican control of the House this November is a top priority for McCarthy. Re-election of members is also similar Young Kim and Michelle Steel of Orange County and Lori Chavez-Deremer of Oregon, who helped diversify the white-as-snow ranks of the House GOP.
The recent Georgetown seminar, billed as a discussion of the sustainability of American democracy, put McCarthy’s strengths and failings on full display.
He was attractive. He was friendly. He was self-deprecating, offering to ask students questions for as long as they wanted, noting, “I don’t have a job anymore.”
McCarthy broke with former President Trump and many fellow Republicans by endorsing them US aid to Ukraine And Vladimir Putin is being compared to Hitler. He said without hesitation, Joe Biden Won the 2020 election, take down trump Constantly lying about your defeat.
He also dodged and moved away.
McCarthy drew false equivalence between The Democrats’ hold on sour grapes Joe lost the election and Trump and his allies waged a dangerous legal and strategic battle to overturn Biden’s victory.
He suggested with a straight face that Trump is only “defending due process” when he mentions violent criminals. January 6 as “Hostages”,
He said he never heard Trump speak about immigrants America’s “poison in the blood” Which is only plausible when you consider that McCarthy has just arrived on Earth via spaceship from Mars.
The former president, who remains in touch with the former president, has been mentioned as a possible recruit for the second Trump administration. He hasn’t done anything to jeopardize his prospects.
Many people who have talked to him say that one thing McCarthy apparently has no interest in is making big bucks by becoming an influencer salesman.
While he makes $100,000 to $150,000 per speech, according to one political aide, McCarthy can make a good deal with much less effort by leveraging his connections in Washington and Sacramento.
But GOP strategist Kathy Abernathy, who has known McCarthy for decades, said he is happier and better suited to work in the campaign field.
“There are a lot of people out there lobbying,” said Abernathy, who hired McCarthy in 1987 as an intern at then-Rep. Bakersfield office of Bill Thomas. “His skills and talents are with people and politics and creating strategy on the path to electing a viable Republican majority.”
McCarthy is particularly adept, he said, at “understanding the politics of a district, what kind of candidate is a good fit for a district, what kind of campaigns work with voters in that district.”
And now McCarthy has added an incentive to spread that knowledge, beyond his lifelong affinity for Republican candidates and causes: payback.
