A story is blowing up on Capitol Hill where Kevin McCarthy elbowed and shoved Tim Burchett as he was walking past him the hallway at the Capitol.
Burchett was being interviewed by a reporter from NPR when the shove happened. She said after the shove, Burchett chased McCarthy down in the hallway and had words with him over it.
Here’s what happened:
Have NEVER seen this on Capitol Hill:
While talking to @RepTimBurchett after the GOP conference meeting, former @SpeakerMcCarthy walked by with his detail and McCarthy shoved Burchett. Burchett lunged towards me. I thought it was a joke, it was not. And a chase ensued…
— Claudia Grisales (@cgrisales) November 14, 2023
Burchett's back was to McCarthy and his detail walking by in the hallway, then the lunge.
Burchett responded jokingly as McCarthy kept walking, "Sorry Kevin didn't mean to elbow –" then seriously yelled, "why'd you elbow me in the back Kevin?! Hey Kevin, you got any guts!?"
— Claudia Grisales (@cgrisales) November 14, 2023
Burchett then looked back at me and said, "jerk" referring to McCarthy. I asked if he had done that before, Burchett said "no."
That's when the chase ensued. Burchett took off after McCarthy and his detail. I chased behind with my mic.
— Claudia Grisales (@cgrisales) November 14, 2023
@RepTimBurchett yelled after catching up to McCarthy, "Hey Kevin, why'd you walk behind me and elbow me in the back?"
KM: "I didn't elbow you in the back."
Burchett: "You got no guts, you did so, …the reporter said it right there, what kind of chicken move is that…"
— Claudia Grisales (@cgrisales) November 14, 2023
Burchett con't: "You got no guts, you did so, …the reporter said it right there, what kind of chicken move is that? You're pathetic man, you are so pathetic."
Burchett starts to walk away from McCarthy, tells me, "What a jerk," and then yells back, "You need security Kevin!"
— Claudia Grisales (@cgrisales) November 14, 2023
Burchett tells me that's the first point of "communication" with McCarthy since Burchett voted for McCarthy's ouster as speaker last month:
"That's just it" for communication since ouster vote, "He's just a jerk. He's just a childish little…"
— Claudia Grisales (@cgrisales) November 14, 2023
Burchett adds, "did you just see that?" he asks in disbelief. I'm stunned, too.
Says he won't follow up with McCarthy on what happened, "he's on a downhill spiral… he just, that was pretty gutless of him. I'm disappointed in his, in him."
— Claudia Grisales (@cgrisales) November 14, 2023
Burchett reiterates he hasn't talked to McCarthy since he voted against him.
"No, no that was it. That's it. He's got $17 million to work against me. And he's just a — he should have kept his word. I think that just showed what he's about and it's unfortunate."
— Claudia Grisales (@cgrisales) November 14, 2023
CNN reporter Manu Raju also caught up with Burchett, who describes it as a sucker punch to his kidneys and says he is still in pain over it.
News — Rep. Tim Burchett accuses Kevin McCarthy of a "sucker punch" to the kidneys and describes heated scene as he chased the former speaker down the hallway.
Said he's the type of the guy who as a kid would "hide behind his mama's skirt."
McCarthy denies it was intentional pic.twitter.com/fBvOUxMb5z— Manu Raju (@mkraju) November 14, 2023
“I got elbowed in the back and it kind of caught me off guard because it was a clean shot to the kidneys. And I turned back (and) there, there was Kevin, and for a minute I was kind of what the heck just happened and then chased after him of course.”
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) November 14, 2023
Burchett says he won’t file an ethics complaint on McCarthy incident. But @MZanona reports that Gaetz plans to.
McCarthy has accused Gaetz of only going after his speakership simply to quash his own ethics probe— Manu Raju (@mkraju) November 14, 2023
This just shows you how petty Kevin McCarthy is when it comes to his ouster and how much he hates those who voted him out.