But his moment in the sun was short-lived, extinguished just two days later by his long-time political rival, Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida, who filed a motion to remove Mr McCarthy from his post.
“It’s to the benefit of this country that we have a better Speaker of the House than Kevin McCarthy,” Mr Gaetz said, as he celebrated Mr McCarthy’s ouster.
The manoeuvre not only devastated Mr McCarthy’s political ambition, but disoriented Washington and plunged the House back into chaos. Republicans once again must decide who they want to be Speaker, just nine months after the tumultuous vote that elected Mr McCarthy in the first place.
For Mr Gaetz at least, the revolt was a rousing success, removing his political nemesis from power and making himself, a relatively junior congressman and reliable flame-thrower, a main character in the drama now consuming Capitol Hill. But it has also made the already unpopular Mr Gaetz, 41, even more isolated in Washington.
Bold of the BBC to assume he thought further ahead than what he wanted.
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I’m convinced that he didn’t expect Dems to vote or McCarthy. He wanted all the bravado moments and then to be able to double down on the McCarthy works with the Dems rhetoric so he could continue to boost his profile. I truly believe Jeffries called his bluff and now Gaetz and the GOP don’t know what to do.