McCarthy Jokes About Hitting Pelosi With Gavel if Republicans Take Back the House

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) made a joke about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) when discussing how Republicans will take back the House in the 🗳️2022 midterm elections.

Tennessean reporter Yue Stella Yu tweeted a photo of a gavel that members of Tennessee’s Republican congressional delegation gave McCarthy that says, “Fire Pelosi.”

The Washington Post’s Michael Scherer reported McCarthy said he “wants everyone to see Pelosi hand him the gavel.”

McCarthy then joked, “It will be hard not to hit her with it, but I will bang it down.”

McCarthy’s remarks sparked outrage from other lawmakers, including Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.).

“I think, certainly, it is really important to also point out that joking about violently attacking a woman is not funny. It’s beneath anyone, especially a leader in Congress and it’s something he should be ashamed of,” Omar said during an interview with MSNBC.

She added, “His resignation should be called for by every single member of Congress.”

Watch her comments below:

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) also tweeted, “Dear McCarthy: Don’t you think America has had enough political violence? You should never be encouraging or threatening or joking about causing violence to anyone, including the Speaker of the House.”

He continued, “You need to apologize for your statement, or resign.”

Pelosi fired back at McCarthy last week after voicing his opposition to a mask mandate reinstated by the Capitol Physician, Dr. Brian Monahan, as IJR reported.

“Make no mistake—The threat of bringing masks back is not a decision based on science, but a decision conjured up by liberal government officials who want to continue to live in a perpetual pandemic state,” McCarthy tweeted.

Responding to critics of the mask mandate, Pelosi said, “That’s the purview of the Capitol physician…nothing to say except we honor it.”

The House speaker said specifically of McCarthy, “He’s such a moron.”