Was it an assault?
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) is accusing former Speaker Kevin McCarthy of elbowing him in the kidney. Burchett seems to think it has to do with McCarthy holding a grudge against Burchett for being one of the eight House Republicans who voted to oust him as speaker.
Burchett said that he was being interviewed by an NPR reporter in a hallway and McCarthy walked by and deliberately elbowed him strong enough to make him lurch forward toward the reporter. Burchett said in an on-camera interview on the Capitol Hill outdoor steps afterward that McCarthy took a “cheap shot from behind.”
“You don’t expect that sort of thing from an adult, certainly not one who was once third in line for the White House,” Burchett said.
Burchett told reporters that McCarthy’s actions seemed “deliberate.”
“I’ll take a polygraph test. And have Kevin take a polygraph test,” he said. “It was deliberate. It was just a cheap shot by a bully.”
Burchett said he didn’t plan on taking further action against McCarthy> He thinks McCarthy will probably “cash in” after Christmas.
“I don’t think it’s OK. These ethics complaints go on for years, and he’s going to be out of here after Christmas. Like I said, he has $17 million and a security detail, and he’ll still be a bully.”
“It’s just like it’s always been. We’re not having duels out here,” Burchett said when asked what the incident might say about the state of Congress. “They’ve had duels in the past and fistfights and everything else. It’s just human nature.”
Burchett said that he prays for McCarthy and hopes he finds happiness in his life.
He said he chased after McCarthy but McCarthy denied intentionally elbowing him.
