Ex-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy slams Matt Gaetz as 'wannabe TV congressman' ... trends now

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Kevin McCarthy accused fellow Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz (Fla.) of launching his ouster as House Speaker in an effort to become a 'TV congressman' by gaining more air time through the process.

Gaetz filed a motion to vacate that was ultimately successful in early October in stripping Rep. McCarthy (Calif.) of his Speaker's gavel. This launched a weeks-long, drama-filled election for the new leader of the lower chamber.

Ultimately, Rep. Mike Johnson was elected after several others failed in their bids.

Gaetz insists that his motion was motivated by McCarthy 'caving' to Democrats in negotiations to avoid a government shutdown. He claims that, as Speaker, McCarthy failed to keep his promises.

Speaking to CNN's Manu Raju, McCarthy counters that the real reason is because Gaetz was only thinking about himself.

'Matt's goal was to be the TV congressman,' McCarthy said in the pre-recorded interview.