During a tense interview on Wednesday, October 4, Fox News host Brian Kilmeade grilled Tim Burchett over Kevin McCarthy's ousting. Fox & Friends host brutally questioned Tim's vote in favour of a motion to vacate, leading to the House Speaker's removal.
Brian interrogated Tim to justify his choice to follow Rep. Matt Gaetz's lead on the motion. Brian asked Trump's ally, “You were one of the eight. Speaker McCarthy had a 96% approval rating. But that wasn’t good enough for you. Do you feel good enough about your vote?” To this, Tim said, “I don't know about the 96%”
The Tennessee Republican continued, “Well, I don’t work for the people in Congress. I work for the people of the second district of Tennessee. And overwhelmingly, the folks are tired of the fact that we take in $5 trillion and we spend $7 trillion that leadership continues to pass these continuation resolutions. They push us right up against a holiday.”
{{/usCountry}}The Tennessee Republican continued, “Well, I don’t work for the people in Congress. I work for the people of the second district of Tennessee. And overwhelmingly, the folks are tired of the fact that we take in $5 trillion and we spend $7 trillion that leadership continues to pass these continuation resolutions. They push us right up against a holiday.”
{{/usCountry}}Tim rhetorically exclaimed, “Well, guess what?" adding, “The 45-day one is pushed right up against it. We took off six weeks this summer from August — we usually just take off in August. They decided to take over two more weeks.”
He justified his decision, saying, "I feel like that’s a failure of leadership. They are the ones that set the schedule. He is the speaker. Ultimately the buck stops where and diverting the attention somewhere else is just wrong.”
During the heated exchange, the Fox News host pointed out how it was the first time in US history that a House Speaker has been ousted. Biran then accused him of being “upset about six weeks in the summer,” and inquired, “Did you call him during the summer and say can we get back to work?” Rep. pointed out his disappointment, saying, “I’m also upset at the fact we’re $36 trillion in debt.” Brian couldn't hold back and asked whether it was the ousted speaker's fault. To this, Tim said, “It could be.”
As the interview went on, Brian continued to grill him and asked, whether Matt is his leader and asked Tim, “Are you happy following Matt Gaetz?” The bickering between the two men continued as Brian called him the “ringleader of a circus led by Matt Gaetz, who likes to blow things up but not offer any new ideas.”
However, the visibly annoyed Republican denied following Matt, and said that he makes his own decisions and didn't need anyone's approval to oust Kevin.
Brian uploaded a clip from the brutal interview on X, formerly Twitter. You can watch the full gruelling conversation in the clip above.