WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 12: U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) departs a House Republican conference meeting where Rep. Steve Scalise withdrew his name as a candidate to be the next Speaker of the House at the U.S. Capitol on October 12, 2023 in Washington, DC. House Republicans continue to debate their pick for Speaker after their initial candidate, Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), failed to secure the majority of the needed votes.
Florida Republican representative Matt Gaetz released an apology statement over a fundraising email criticizing Republicans.
The email gathered criticism from the New York Republican Congressman Mike Lawler, one of the 22 Republicans who voted against Jim Jordan on Wednesday.
Gaetz Apologizes to Lawler
Gaetz posted his apology statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, clearing that a vendor sent the email without his team's approval.
The content of the email said, "Michael - It's Matt Gaetz. We are inches from electing Speaker Jim Jordan. But RINOs are working with RADICAL DEMOCRATS like AOC, ILHAN OMAR, and RASHIDA TLAIB to BLOCK JIM JORDAN FROM BECOMING SPEAKER!!!"
He said that it should not have been sent. Gaetz also sincerely apologized to Lawler and anyone targeted by the ill-conceived email.
According to The Guardian, he reassured Lawler that he would make changes and an incident like this would not happen again. Gaetz said he intended to heed Jordan's call not to attack fellow Republicans.
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Lawler, McCarthy Respond to Gaetz's Email
Lawler responded to the screenshot of the "ill-conceived" email, which criticized "Republicans in name only" for working at the progressive Democrats. According to CNN, Lawler said that Gaetz is a vile person. He also added that he is unwilling to work as a team and lies directly to people.
Lawler has been critical of Gaetz more than once. Gaetz led a movement to oust Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif) following his cooperation with Democrats on a bipartisan bill to prevent a federal government termination earlier this month.
Other eight House Republicans voted to oust McCarthy. The Republican lawmakers cited that national debt or broken promises he made to the House GOP were some of the reasons for McCarthy's removal, as reported by The Hill.
McCarthy said in the wake of his ouster that the ousting was personal and was never about the spending. He claimed that the movement led by Gaetz was just a way to get everyone's attention. McCarthy also responded to Gaetz's email with the former House speaker telling Raju shortly before Wednesday's second round of votes.
He said that they wanted to elect Jim Jordan, and if Jim's number dropped, it was due to Gaetz's email that he sent out last night. McCarthy was infuriated about the fundraising email that Gaetz put out, accusing Republicans of working with certain Democrats when Gaetz had worked with every Democrat and the eight House Republicans, whom he called "crazy."
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