High Drama in DC: Kevin McCarthy and Eric Swalwell Allegedly Nearly Threw Down During Schiff Censure Debate

We all remember the precious Democrat meltdowns that occurred during the run-up to Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) eventually getting censured by the House back in June over the repeated abuses of power he engaged in during his time as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.

As RedState readers will also recall, just months prior to that, newly-minted House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) also took aim at Schiff and his colleague, Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), both of who were effectively kicked off Intelligence Committee, with McCarthy citing “integrity” as a major factor.

“I cannot put partisan loyalty ahead of national security, and I cannot simply recognize years of service as the sole criteria for membership to this essential committee. Integrity matters more,” McCarthy noted at the time, with the emphasis on integrity – and outraging Democrats, particularly Swalwell, in the process.

Since then, Swalwell has been on a revenge campaign of sorts against McCarthy over doing what any self-respecting Republican leader would have done faced with the same situation regarding a member of Congress on a powerful committee who was allegedly compromised by a Chinese honeypot.

Swalwell has repeatedly criticized McCarthy’s leadership, saying in so many words that McCarthy is there to do former President Donald Trump’s bidding. While Swalwell is, of course, free to believe as he wishes, things allegedly escalated between both McCarthy and Swalwell on the day Schiff was censured. According to the stories of two unnamed Democrat members of Congress as reported by The Daily Beast, Swalwell called McCarthy a “weak man” on the House floor:

As the spectacle was taking place, one of the leaders of the demonstration, Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), was standing in the well of the House near the speaker’s podium and delivered some harsh words to his fellow Californian.

“This is pathetic,” Swalwell allegedly told McCarthy, who was presiding over the House at the time. “You’re weak. You’re a weak man.”

At 3:49 of the below clip you see Swalwell towards the center left of the screen pointing at McCarthy and calling him “weak.”

Watch:

U.S. House censures Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA).

House Democrats chant "shame" and interrupt the pronouncement of censure. @SpeakerMcCarthy: "I have all night." pic.twitter.com/VZTUVnkBBt

— CSPAN (@cspan) June 21, 2023

The following day is when things got more heated, according to the story, with McCarthy confronting Swalwell as he headed to the bathroom (language warning):

…Swalwell was on the House floor, making his way to a bathroom just outside the chamber on the Republican side.

That’s when McCarthy saw him.

“McCarthy said, ‘If you ever say something like that to me again, I’m gonna kick the sh*t out of you,’” a member claimed to The Daily Beast.

Another member who witnessed the exchange provided even more context: “They were in each other’s faces. Basically nose-to-nose. And Swalwell said something like, ‘Are we really gonna do this?’”

After some back-and-forth, with chests puffed out, McCarthy issued a challenge to Swalwell: “Call me a p*ssy again, and I’ll kick your *ss,” the Speaker allegedly said.

Both Democrat members who relayed the alleged story said that after a short stand-off of sorts between the two that Swalwell called him that again and that McCarthy glared at him for a few more moments before heading back to the House floor to greet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was there to speak before Congress.

While according to the DB, the Democrats who shared the story said it was “indicative of McCarthy’s empty threats and ultimate weakness,” one thing we have to remember here is that it’s Democrats retelling what they say happened, so it likely includes a lot of embellishments and whatnot of Swalwell’s performative buffoonery and meant to portray him as the bigger bad a**.

But even if McCarthy did blow off Swalwell supposedly repeating the taunt to him, one thing to keep in mind here is that McCarthy is also keenly aware of who holds the power in this scenario, and while he shouldn’t abuse it, both he (and Swalwell) know if the opportunity presents itself again McCarthy likely will exert it over Swalwell in full force.

As he should.

I’m not a purist when it comes to decorum, civility and all that in Congress. As I’ve written before, Swalwell is in my opinion a bad-faith actor, and one whose actions mimic the tendencies we often see from obnoxious liars and obscene jerks. Worse, he wants to take away rights that are enshrined in the Constitution, and the way he goes about it is by trying to slime and smear his political opposition any way he can, whether on social media, MSNBC, or in a House hearing.

I’m totally fine with Republicans playing hardball when it comes to people like Swalwell. What he advocates for would profoundly change America into the type of country she should never be, and his Republican counterparts in the House should not hesitate to rip him to shreds in the court of public opinion when he’s practically begging for it.

In other words, when you act like a horse’s patootie, you shouldn’t be surprised when you get treated like one, you know?