With a little over a year before the 2022 midterms, Republican lawmakers are hoping to secure a congressional majority to hinder President Joe Biden's legislative agenda for the last two years of his first term.
If that happens, Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California is hoping to take over Democrat Nancy Pelosi's position as Speaker of the House.
The pair's mutual disdain is well-documented. Most recently, Speaker Pelosi rejected two of McCarthy's Republican appointments to the House Select Committee investigating the Capitol Riots of January 6. Enraged by the move, Minority Leader McCarthy pulled all five of his appointments to the committee before decrying it as partisan.
Now, McCarthy's recent comments in response to a gift bestowed on him by the Tennessee Republican Party at its recent Statesmen's Dinner are making headlines for all the wrong reasons.
The gift was an oversized gavel, signaling the GOP's hope that McCarthy will become Speaker if the Republicans secure a majority in the House of Representatives.
The Minority Leader joked about hitting Pelosi with the instrument.
Listen below.
McCarthy said:
"I want you to watch Nancy Pelosi hand me that gavel. It'll be hard not to hit her with it."
The Minority Leader's attempt at a joke comes just months after a mob of pro-Trump extremists stormed the United States Capitol, beating police officers, calling for the execution of any lawmaker they perceived as disloyal to Trump, and erecting a gallows outside.
McCarthy's wisecrack enraged social media users.
They were even more disgusted to hear the comment be met with applause.
McCarthy has yet to apologize.
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