Information reaching Kossyderrickent has it that Recording voice note leaks moment Rep. Tim Burchett confronted Kevin McCarthy after he elbowed his kidneys at Capitol today.
“I see him scurrying away, and so I just followed in pursuit,” he said, adding that he thought the action was “100% on purpose.”
When he confronted McCarthy, Burchett said the California Republican acted like he didn’t know what he was talking about.
Burchett told McCarthy, “You got no guts. … What kind of chicken move is that? You’re pathetic man, you are so pathetic.”
GOP Rep. Tim Burchett accused former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of elbowing him in the back in a Capitol Hill hallway on Tuesday in retaliation for Burchett voting to oust him from the role last month.
“Kevin McCarthy walked by and he elbowed me in the kidneys as he walked by,” Burchett told reporters Tuesday. “Kind of caught me off guard.” Burchett said that he went after the former speaker to confront him about the altercation but said McCarthy brushed him off. He added that he “raised his voice” and that McCarthy responded back to him with “that high pitched kind of thing.”
“Of course, as he always … does, he just denies it or blames somebody else or something. And and it was just a little heated. But I just backed off because – I saw no reason. I wasn’t gaining anything from it. Everybody saw it. So it didn’t really matter,” he told CNN.
McCarthy repeatedly denied the incident to CNN, saying, “I didn’t shove or elbow him. It’s a tight hallway.”
In a lengthy gaggle later Tuesday, McCarthy again denied he hit Burchett. “Four-hundred-thirty-five of us. Eight of us voted against it,” he said when asked whether the alleged elbowing could have been an accident. “And the chances of him walking beside me and giving me an elbow in the back? Come on.”
An NPR reporter was interviewing Burchett at the Capitol after the GOP’s conference meeting when the incident occurred. The reporter, Claudia Grisales, said McCarthy shoved Burchett as he passed them in a hallway.
“I thought it was a joke, it was not. And a chase ensued,” Grisales wrote.
NPR later posted audio of the confrontation. Burchett said, “Why’d you elbow me in the back, Kevin? Hey Kevin, you got any guts?” McCarthy can be heard saying, “I didn’t elbow you in the back.”
When asked about McCarthy’s denials and his claim that the hallway was tight and it was an accident, Burchett said it wasn’t a serious explanation.
“There’s 435 congressmen, I was one of the eight that voted against him. That hallway was – there’s plenty of room, you could walk four side by side. He chose to do what he did. And you know, it’ll end right here. I’m sure it’ll just be a little asterix on his storied career,” he said.
The Tennessee Republican also accused the former speaker of using his substantial campaign war chest to interfere in members’ races and that he believes McCarthy – who has not yet said whether he will stay in Congress – will be gone by the next Congress.
“He’s already messing in everybody’s races and we all know that,” Burchett said.
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