Kevin McCarthy is kicking his revenge tour into high gear, or it at least appears that way based on his comments this week to reporters about Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), the Republican lawmaker who originally filed the motion to vacate that led to McCarthy’s ousting as House speaker.

McCarthy, who recently resigned from Congress, gave a surprise press conference on Capitol Hill on Tuesday where he accused Gaetz of embellishing his closeness to Donald Trump and lying about “who he sleeps with,” apparently referring to accusations of sex trafficking against Gaetz — including soliciting sex from a minor. The Justice Department declined to charge Gaetz with any crimes, but there is an ongoing House Ethics Committee probe. A Gaetz ally named Joel Greenberg pled guilty in the original investigation to charges including sex trafficking and fraud.

Gaetz has long denied any wrongdoing and even mocked his former House speaker for alluding to the accusations.

On Tuesday, McCarthy first took a few shots at Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), claiming she can’t keep anyone working for her and saying, “I just hope she gets the help to straighten out her life.”

Later, when asked about Gaetz and whether he’s brought up Gaetz’s ousting of him with Trump, McCarthy pushed back on the idea that Gaetz and the former president are close.

“I don’t know how close you probably think the president is to Gaetz, but you should probably figure that out,” he said in footage aired Wednesday by CNN.

Gaetz has long been a vocal ally of Trump and attended numerous events, including at Mar-a-Lago. When a reporter noted Gaetz makes it appear there’s a close relationship, McCarthy fit in his couple of personal digs.

“I’m sure. Gaetz probably makes a lot up. He probably lies about who he sleeps with too,” he said. McCarthy, who sits on a massive war chest as he was one of the GOP’s best fundraisers, has vowed to work to oust the GOP House members who voted to remove him as speaker — Gaetz included.

Gaetz responded to McCarthy through X, formerly Twitter, by writing, “What stage of grief is this?”

Watch above via CNN.

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