How Democrats could use Gaetz’s McCarthy attacks to their benefit

Rep. Matt Gaetz‘s (R-FL) crusade to remove Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) as speaker may have earned him a prime spot in Democrats’ ad campaigns and fundraising grabs after offering up several quotes regarding Republicans‘ handling of President Joe Biden and oversight duties.

Lawmakers voted 216-210 to remove McCarthy from his position after eight Republicans joined all Democrats in a historic rebuke to GOP leadership, leaving the House at a standstill until lawmakers can elect a new speaker. The vote comes after weeks of threats to McCarthy from members of his right flank — particularly Gaetz, who filed the motion on Monday evening.

THE RACE IS ON: WHO COULD REPLACE MCCARTHY AS SPEAKER?

During one hour of debate after the motion to table vacating McCarthy failed, Gaetz threw several digs at his fellow Republicans regarding negotiations with Biden and lobbyists, as well as the conference’s ability to conduct oversight. It could have presented House Democrats and Biden’s campaign with some key quotes that are likely to appear in future advertising and fundraising pushes.

Gaetz took a hit at Biden’s age, poking at McCarthy’s concessions to Biden in the debt ceiling compromise and again to Democrats in the continuing resolution. The Florida representative made the motion to vacate after accusing McCarthy of making a “back deal” with Democrats to pass a continuing resolution over the weekend to fund the government temporarily, which he says is in direct violation of the speakership agreement brokered in January.

“It is going to be difficult for my Republican colleagues to keep calling President Biden feeble while he continues to take Speaker McCarthy’s lunch money in every negotiation,” Gaetz said.

The Florida representative also threw insults at the Republicans conducting investigations into Biden’s family, including his younger son Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings. In a rare moment, he echoed House Democrats, calling the investigations “failure theater.”

“It is difficult to champion oversight when House Republicans haven’t even sent a subpoena to Hunter Biden,” Gaetz said. “So it’s hard to make the argument that oversight is the reason to continue when it sort of looks like failure theater.”

Gaetz was hit with jeers and boos from members of his own party, with several accusing him of using the motion to vacate as a fundraising opportunity. The Florida congressman wasted no time coming back with an insult of his own.

“I take no lecture on asking patriotic Americans to weigh in and contribute to this fight from those who would grovel and bend knee to the lobbyists and special interests who own our leadership,” Gaetz said.

These comments set Gaetz up as public enemy No. 1 in the eyes of the GOP for two reasons. Not only did he and eight hard-line conservatives oust McCarthy, who has argued he kept his word and did none of the things Gaetz accuses him of, but he also gave the Democrats easy access to sound bites that will most likely be used in campaign tactics to undermine Republicans heading into 2024, where the House Republicans hold a slim majority.

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This will not be the first time Democrats used Republican sound bites to make a viral campaign ad. In July, President Joe Biden’s campaign ad used a clip of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene‘s (R-GA) speech to tout his administration’s accomplishments. The video uses comments that Greene made while delivering a speech at Turning Point USA blasting the Biden administration.

However, Biden’s team mixed the comments with uplifting music and added photos and videos of the president and Vice President Kamala Harris to give it the appearance of a campaign video, going viral instantly. It reached over 30 million views in 12 hours.