On Oct. 3 the House of Representatives, in a historic vote, elected 216 to 210 to remove California Republican Kevin McCarthy from his position as House speaker, bringing an end to his short-lived spot. McCarthy has only held his position since January. While the House looks for a new speaker, North Carolina Rep. Patrick McHenry has taken the spot as speaker pro tempore.
Those who voted him out consisted of all of the Democrats and eight Republicans.The eight Republicans who ousted McCarthy were: Andy Biggs, Ken Buck, Tim Burchett, Eli Crane, Matt Gaetz, Bob Good, Nancy Mace and Matt Rosendale.
Most vocal and interesting of these Republicans has been Gaetz, who forced the vote on a motion to vacate McCarthy. Gaetz is incredibly cranky with McCarthy over his alleged deal with Democrats for giving funds to Ukraine.
Gaetz told CNN that McCarthy was making a “secret deal” along with, “Baiting Republicans to vote for a continuing resolution without Ukraine money, saying that we were going to jam the Senate on Ukraine.”
McCarthy has denied making a deal with the Democrats, but this has not stopped Gaetz from calling him “untrustworthy.” There are valid criticisms of McCarthy. For starters, according to the Washington Post, he supported the Defense of Marriage Act, a homophobic act signed into law by Bill Clinton that prevented same-sex marriages recognized by their home state from receiving benefits that were given to straight-marriages. I think it is ultimately good that McCarthy is not the speaker of the House anymore as I cannot condone his harmful views.
Gaetz’s mistrust of McCarthy doesn’t come from valid criticism though. His skepticism comes from the unsubstantiated and outright false claim that McCarthy is somehow acting bipartisan.
While I can not in good faith support McCarthy because of his views, Gaetz definitely seems a lot more untrustworthy for the American people.
According to National Public Radio (NPR), during his speech at the Student Action Summit in Tampa, Florida in 2022, he was reported saying, “Why is it that the women with the least likelihood of getting pregnant are the ones most worried about having abortions? Nobody wants to impregnate you if you look like a thumb.”
This disgustingly misogynistic thinking is what is really untrustworthy for the American public, not alleged bipartisanship. No one who body shames or disrespects bodily autonomy can ever have my support. Bodily autonomy is a right that everyone should have; only the owner of a body should make decisions surrounding it unless completely necessary like in cases of absolutely vital life saving surgeries or vaccines for minors. To disrespect this right makes me lose respect for the one disrespecting it.
On top of that he body shamed the people who were calling for fundamental rights to one’s own body. Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, the fact that Gaetz seems to think there is an objective beauty standard makes him a complete loser in my eyes.
While I believe it is true that McCarthy isn’t trustworthy or a valuable speaker of the House, I retain my skepticism when it comes from Gaetz’s mouth. McCarthy seems like the lesser of the two evils.
Nico Brazill can be contacted at
nbrazill@kscequinox.com
