GOP Rep. Lawler: Gaetz Should Be Expelled from the Conference

Representative Mike Lawler (R-NY) said Wednesday on MSNBC’s “Katy Tur Reports” that Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) ousting Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) should result in the Florida congressman being “expelled” from the House Republican Conference.

Lawler said, “I think he should be expelled from the conference, no question. He violated the conference rules by bringing the motion to vacate forward without a majority of the majority. And he teamed up with 208 Democrats to remove a dually elected House Republican Speaker. He undermined the conference, he undermined the institution, and he undermined the country, and he doesn’t care.”

He continued, “So to me, I don’t really see why we would have him part of our conference going forward. It’s clear he’s not somebody who’s willing to work within the conference and wants to associate himself more with House Democrats to remove Republican speakers. So I certainly believe that he should be removed from conference.”

Tur asked, “What about the other seven who voted alongside of him? What do you think of them?”

Lawler said, “I think, unfortunately, you know, some of them were useful idiots in this crusade on Matt Gaetz’s part. It was petty, it was personal, and it really, again, undermined the conference and the institution.”

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