Kevin McCarthy Hit Rep. Tim Burchett With 'A Clean Shot to the Kidneys' in Congress Today
Congress is a full contact sport these days. If you had any doubts, just listen to what happened to Tim Burchett, a Representative from Tennessee who was giving an interview with NPR when former Speaker Kevin McCarthy apparently walked by and gave Burchett a shot in the kidneys. Burchett told his story to CNN on the steps of Congress not long after NPR's Claudia Grisales tweeted out her first hand account of the confrontation and resulting "chase."
First, here's Burchett telling Manu Raju what happened.
Rep. Tim Burchett claims on CNN that Kevin McCarthy hit him from behind with "a clean shot to the kidneys" and calls him "a bully" pic.twitter.com/CCLQvNuWHw
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 14, 2023
"Well, I was doing an interview with Claudia from NPR, a lovely lady, and when she was asking me a question at the time I got elbowed in the back and it kind of caught me off guard 'cause it was a clean shot to the kidneys. And I turned back and there was Kevin. For a minute I was - what the heck just happened - and then I chased after him of course. As I've stated many times he's a bully with $17 million and a security detail. You know, he's the type of guy that when you were a kid would throw a rock over the fence and then run home and hide behind his momma's skirt."
And here's Grisales account of McCarthy hitting Burchett and Burchett giving chase... and Grisales chasing after Burchett.
Have NEVER seen this on Capitol Hill:
— Claudia Grisales (@cgrisales) November 14, 2023
While talking to @RepTimBurchett after the GOP conference meeting, former @SpeakerMcCarthy walked by with his detail and McCarthy shoved Burchett. Burchett lunged towards me. I thought it was a joke, it was not. And a chase ensued...
Burchett then looked back at me and said, "jerk" referring to McCarthy. I asked if he had done that before, Burchett said "no."
— Claudia Grisales (@cgrisales) November 14, 2023
That's when the chase ensued. Burchett took off after McCarthy and his detail. I chased behind with my mic.
Burchett con't: "You got no guts, you did so, ...the reporter said it right there, what kind of chicken move is that? You're pathetic man, you are so pathetic."
— Claudia Grisales (@cgrisales) November 14, 2023
Burchett starts to walk away from McCarthy, tells me, "What a jerk," and then yells back, "You need security Kevin!"
Burchett adds, "did you just see that?" he asks in disbelief. I'm stunned, too.
— Claudia Grisales (@cgrisales) November 14, 2023
Says he won't follow up with McCarthy on what happened, "he's on a downhill spiral... he just, that was pretty gutless of him. I'm disappointed in his, in him."
Burchett reiterates he hasn't talked to McCarthy since he voted against him.
— Claudia Grisales (@cgrisales) November 14, 2023
"No, no that was it. That's it. He's got $17 million to work against me. And he's just a -- he should have kept his word. I think that just showed what he's about and it's unfortunate."
As Grisales mentions, Burchett is one of the Republicans that voted to oust McCarthy as Speaker, so it makes sense that there might be some animosity between them. However, this doesn't seem like behavior befitting one or two members of Congress, which actually makes perfect sense the way things are going lately.
Someone getting chased and repeatedly called a chicken after delivering a cheap shot elbow to someone's back sounds a lot more like something that would happen on a football field or basketball court than in the halls of Congress with reporters everywhere. Throw in the fact that these guys are both closing in on 60 and you've got to wonder when this kind of behavior actually ends.