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House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has been accused of elbowing fellow Rep. Tim Burchett during an extraordinary physical altercation in Congress. Burchett is one of eight Republicans who voted out McCarthy, and Burchett told DailyMail.com that the hallway fight was their first interaction since McCarthy was fired from the speakership.
The Tennessee Republican called McCarthy “pathetic” and said “you have no guts” after the former speaker allegedly shoved him during Tuesday’s heated clash. The incident occurred while McCarthy was at the Capitol with his security officers, according to NPR reporter Claudia Grisales, who was there at the time.
Burchett later confirmed that her account of what happened was accurate. Burchett responded jokingly as McCarthy continued, “Sorry Kevin wouldn’t elbow me -” and then shouted seriously, “Why did you elbow me in the back Kevin?! Hey Kevin, do you have guts!?’ Grisales tweeted.
“You’re a pathetic man, you’re so pathetic,” Burchett told McCarthy, according to Grisales. DailyMail.com has contacted McCarthy’s office for comment. Burchett later told reporters that the push was not meant as a joke and was so hard that he could still feel it.
“It was a hit,” he said. Of McCarthy, Burchett said, “He’s just a bully with $17 million and a security detail.” ‘He is defeated and he knows it. All his tricks to throw us into chaos didn’t work,” Burchett said, referring to whispers that McCarthy was quietly working to undermine candidates seeking to succeed him in the speaker’s race.
Burchett scoffed when asked if he wanted to file a motion to convict McCarthy because he was physically treated. “Heck no man, I’m from East Tennessee. If I handle it, we’ll do it in the parking lot. Look, I’m not gonna fight or anything. It would be a very short fistfight, I can tell you that.”
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