Gaetz responds to McCarthy’s quip at Hill Nation Summit: ‘Get help’

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) told Kevin McCarthy to “get help” Wednesday after the former House Speaker from California said his life is better after leaving Congress because Gaetz isn’t in it.

“This is so sad, Kevin,” Gaetz wrote on social platform X, posting a video of McCarthy’s remarks at the Hill Nation Summit. “Get help. Move on.”

“You don’t have to always be thinking about me,” he added.

McCarthy, who has been in a prolonged feud with Gaetz, said at the summit that his postcongressional life was “fabulous.”

“We don’t have Matt Gaetz anymore,” he said, drawing laughs from the crowd.

Gaetz retired from Congress after President Trump nominated him last fall to become the nation’s attorney general, but Gaetz’s nomination was pulled after failing to gain traction for confirmation in the Senate.

McCarthy, meanwhile, retired from the House after he was ousted from his leadership post in 2023. Gaetz was a vocal proponent of the removal effort.