House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) made a joke about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) when discussing how Republicans will take back the House in the 2022 midterm elections.
Tennessean reporter Yue Stella Yu tweeted a photo of a gavel that members of Tennessee’s Republican congressional delegation gave McCarthy that says, “Fire Pelosi.”
The TN congressional delegation just presented @GOPLeader with a gavel that says “Fire Pelosi.” pic.twitter.com/0xkH662dei
— Yue Stella Yu (@bystellayu) August 1, 2021
The Washington Post’s Michael Scherer reported McCarthy said he “wants everyone to see Pelosi hand him the gavel.”
McCarthy then joked, “It will be hard not to hit her with it, but I will bang it down.”
Tenn. reps gave Kevin McCarthy an oversized gavel after speech.
— Michael Scherer (@michaelscherer) August 1, 2021
McCarthy invites the 1,400 at Nashville dinner to DC when he becomes speaker.
He says he wants everyone to see Pelosi hand him the gavel. "It will be hard not to hit her with it but I will bang it down,” he says.
McCarthy’s remarks sparked outrage from other lawmakers, including Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.).
“I think, certainly, it is really important to also point out that joking about violently attacking a woman is not funny. It’s beneath anyone, especially a leader in Congress and it’s something he should be ashamed of,” Omar said during an interview with MSNBC.
She added, “His resignation should be called for by every single member of Congress.”
Watch her comments below:
Kevin McCarthy "should be ashamed. His resignation should be called for by every single member of Congress."
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) August 2, 2021
Rep @IlhanMN reacts on the @MehdiHasanShow to House GOP leader McCarthy 'joking' that he wanted to assault Speaker Nancy Pelosi with a gavel.pic.twitter.com/vgpuhL089t
Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) also tweeted, “Dear [GOP Leader] McCarthy: Don’t you think America has had enough political violence? You should never be encouraging or threatening or joking about causing violence to anyone, including the Speaker of the House.”
He continued, “You need to apologize for your statement, or resign.”
Dear @GOPLeader McCarthy: Don’t you think America has had enough political violence? You should never be encouraging or threatening or joking about causing violence to anyone, including the Speaker of the House. You need to apologize for your statement, or resign. https://t.co/jdP2bcmr5c
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) August 1, 2021
Pelosi fired back at McCarthy last week after voicing his opposition to a mask mandate reinstated by the Capitol Physician, Dr. Brian Monahan, as IJR reported.
“Make no mistake—The threat of bringing masks back is not a decision based on science, but a decision conjured up by liberal government officials who want to continue to live in a perpetual pandemic state,” McCarthy tweeted.
Responding to critics of the mask mandate, Pelosi said, “That’s the purview of the Capitol physician…nothing to say except we honor it.”
The House speaker said specifically of McCarthy, “He’s such a moron.”