Shots Fired: Kevin McCarthy Says Nancy Mace Hasn't 'Earned the Right to Get Reelected'

The bad blood between former speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy, and his ally-turned-enemy Nancy Mace is spilling over into the 2024 election season. In an interview with CNN's Manu Raju, McCarthy says Mace "probably" hasn't "earned the right to get reelected.”

Mace is facing a tough reelection race in 2024. McCarthy, who hasn't been courting much media attention in the weeks since his ouster as speaker, questions her role in joining with fellow Republicans like Matt Gaetz and Tim Burchett in seeking his removal.

And, McCarthy argues, Mace is inconsistent and unreliable:

If you’ve watched, just her philosophy and the flip-flopping, I don’t believe she wins reelection. I don’t think she’ll probably have earned the right to get reelected.

Mace, a frequent guest on CNN since first being elected to Congress in 2020, told the network McCarthy "was a guy who lied all the time, like every day," and "we’ve moved on to a much better speaker who’s honest and trustworthy," adding she's not worried about 2024:

I raise $6 million every two years for my reelection campaign. I know exactly how to raise money. I know exactly how to run – women can run and women can win, Kevin McCarthy – surprise.

Mace was once a close ally of McCarthy's, having supported him during his battle to become speaker in January. She benefitted greatly from his fundraising assistance, yet seemed to turn quickly on him by allying herself with Gaetz. Curiously, Mace once called Gaetz "a fraud" for fundraising off the chaos of the January speaker battle.

McCarthy also has strong words for Gaetz and Burchett, saying the two, along with Mace, "care a lot about press, not about policy, and so they seem to just want the press and the personality.”

WATCH:

New -- Spoke to Kevin McCarthy. Had some choice words for "crazy eight" Rs. Said GOP won't "ever heal" unless there are "consequences"

Said GOP would benefit "tremendously" if Gaetz wasn't in House.

And says Nancy Mace doesn't deserve to win reelect.

Full intvw: 11aET Sunday pic.twitter.com/7xCBKi5HjL
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) November 9, 2023

McCarthy continues: "I mean he’ll admit to you personally. He doesn’t have a conservative bent in his philosophy. And just the nature of what he focuses on." To which Gaetz snarkily responds, via comment to CNN, "Thoughts and prayers to the former speaker as he works through his grief."

Burchett joins in by saying McCarthy was “bitter" and predicts the former speaker will "enter into a successful job in lobbying.”

Raju’s full interview with former Speaker McCarthy will air on this Sunday's edition of CNN’s “Inside Politics.”