Drama unfolded in the Capitol hallway Tuesday when a Republican lawmaker accused a colleague of taking a “clean shot to the kidneys” as he walked by.
U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) was speaking with a reporter when former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) walked by and apparently “elbowed” him in the back. The incident set up a momentary exchange followed by a chase as Burchett pursued McCarthy with NPR reporter Claudia Grisales in tow.
The Tennessee congressman, who was one of eight Republicans who voted to remove McCarthy as speaker last month, spoke to CNN’s Manu Raju afterward, calling out his colleague for the “punch punch” he to give.
Less than 24 hours after that comment… Rep. Tim Burchett was pushed by Kevin McCarthy in the hallways of the Capitol building.
BEYOND BITTER! https://t.co/dMzQHFp4og
— Kingsley Wilson (@KingsleyCortes) November 14, 2023
Grisales posted that he had “NEVER seen this on Capitol Hill” as he described what happened in a series of tweets on Tuesday.
“While talking to @RepTimBurchett after the GOP conference meeting, former @SpeakerMcCarthy walked by with his detail and McCarthy shoved Burchett. Burchett lunged at me. I thought it was a joke, no it was. And a chase ensued…” he wrote.
“Burchett turned his back on McCarthy and his detail as they walked down the hall, then lunged. Burchett jokingly replied as McCarthy kept walking, “Sorry, Kevin didn’t mean to elbow . . . ” and then seriously yelled : “Why did you elbow me in the back, Kevin?! Hey Kevin, do you have guts!?’” the reporter explained.
Burchett turned his back on McCarthy and his detail passing down the hall, then lunged.
Burchett jokingly replied as McCarthy kept walking, “I’m sorry, Kevin didn’t mean to elbow…” and then seriously yelled, “Why did you elbow me in the back, Kevin?! Hey Kevin, do you have courage!?”
— Claudia Grisales (@cgrisales) November 14, 2023
“Then Burchett looked back at me and said, ‘moron’ referring to McCarthy. I asked if he had done that before, Burchett said ‘no,'” Grisales continued. “That’s when the chase started. Burchett took off after McCarthy and his detail. I gave chase with the microphone.”
After catching up with McCarthy, Burchett said, “Hey Kevin, why did you walk up behind me and elbow me in the back?”
“I didn’t elbow you in the back,” McCarthy had replied, according to Grisales, who documented the events at X.
BREAKING: Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy accused by Republican House rival Tim Burchett of elbowing him. Burchett said McCarthy hit him with a ‘clean shot to the kidneys’pic.twitter.com/YOw1T2hHey
— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) November 14, 2023
“You have no guts, you did… the reporter said it right there, what kind of chicken move is that…” Burchett shot back. “You have no guts, you did it, … the reporter said it right there, what kind of chicken move is that? You’re pathetic man, you’re so pathetic.”
Walking away from the former speaker, Burchett told Grisales, “What an idiot,” before yelling at his GOP colleague, “You need security Kevin!”
Burchett was evidently surprised by the encounter, as was the reporter who noted that he told him this was “the first point of ‘communication'” with McCarthy since the historic vote to remove him from the gavel orator
Burchett adds, “Did you just see that?” he asks in disbelief. I’m surprised too.
He says he won’t follow up with McCarthy about what happened, “he’s on a downward spiral … he, that was pretty foolish of him. I’m disappointed in him, in him.”
— Claudia Grisales (@cgrisales) November 14, 2023
“No, it wasn’t that. This is. He’s got 17 million dollars to work against me. And he’s just a… he should have kept his word. I think that just shows what he’s all about and it’s unfortunate.” Burchett concluded.
The Tennessee lawmaker also spoke to Manu Raju about the encounter, explaining how he “got elbowed in the back.”
“It caught me off guard because it was a clean shot in the kidneys,” he continued, adding that he went after the GOP lawmaker.
“He’s a stalker with $17 million and a security detail. He’s the kind of guy who, when you’re a kid, would throw a rock over the fence and run home to hide behind his mother”.
News – Rep. Tim Burchett accuses Kevin McCarthy of a ‘kidney punch’ and describes the heated scene as he chased the former speaker down the hall.
He said he is the type of man who as a child would “hide behind his mother’s skirt”.
McCarthy denies it was intentional pic.twitter.com/fBvOUxMb5z— Manu Raju (@mkraju) November 14, 2023
The 59-year-old congressman explained that he backed down on McCarthy after McCarthy denied doing anything, adding “everyone saw it,” despite McCarthy’s denials and saying it was “symptomatic of the problems he’s had in his short term as speaker”.
“I raised my voice at him,” he added, telling Raju that he “didn’t expect someone who was once three steps away from the White House to punch you in the hallway.”
“I probably won’t file an ethics complaint against him. It’s not worth it,” Burchett added.
Rep. Matt Gaetz, one of those McCarthy is angry with since the Florida Republican effectively led the charge to oust him as speaker, was one of many to react to reports of the incident at X.
McCarthy used to push millions of dollars in lobbying money.
It is now reduced to pushing @RepTimBurchett behind. https://t.co/T40I2rz8mc
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) November 14, 2023
This is wild.
McCarthy resorts to pushing people into the aisles.
What a weak, pathetic skin of a man. https://t.co/ssx8OJFki1
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) November 14, 2023
Kevin, there is no place for a mean girl in the halls of Congress… https://t.co/0xVkNUyjZA
— Nancy Mace (@NancyMace) November 14, 2023
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