Gaetz in a statement posted to Twitter called McCarthy and Scalise “weak men.”
“Rep McCarthy and Rep. Scalise held views about President Trump and me that they shared on sniveling calls with Liz Cheney, not us,” Gaetz wrote. “This is the behavior of weak men, not leaders.”
Earlier on Tuesday, the Times reported that McCarthy, during a call with GOP leadership on Jan. 10, 2021, said Gaetz was “putting people in jeopardy.” He was particularly concerned with comments the Florida Republican made that attacked Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 riot, according to the Times.
“And he doesn’t need to be doing this. We saw what people would do in the Capitol, you know, and these people came prepared with rope, with everything else,” McCarthy said on the call while discussing Gaetz.
McCarthy said he received a report of Gaetz calling people out and dubbing them “anti-Trump,” adding that “this is serious stuff people are doing that has to stop.”