'Chase ensues' after 'bully' Kevin McCarthy 'shoves' Republican who ousted him: 'You got any guts?'

Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-California) reportedly got into a physical altercation on Tuesday with one of the eight House Republicans who voted to strip him of the speaker's gavel in October.

Rep. Timothy Burchett (R-Tennessee) accused the former speaker of giving him "a clear shot to the kidneys" while passing by him following a House Republican Conference meeting, prompting Burchett to run after McCarthy and demand an explanation. In a thread posted to her official X (formerly Twitter) account, NPR congressional reporter Claudia Grisales gave a play-by-play of the confrontation from her vantage point.

"While talking to @RepTimBurchett after the GOP conference meeting, former @SpeakerMcCarthy walked by with his detail and McCarthy shoved Burchett," Grisales tweeted, tagging the accounts of both men. "Burchett lunged towards me. I thought it was a joke, it was not. And a chase ensued."

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"Burchett's back was to McCarthy and his detail walking by in the hallway, then the lunge. Burchett responded jokingly as McCarthy kept walking, 'Sorry Kevin didn't mean to elbow —' then seriously yelled, 'why'd you elbow me in the back Kevin?! Hey Kevin, you got any guts!?'" Grisales continued.

While speaking to CNN's Manu Raju, Rep. Burchett described the scuffle in detail.

"[I]t kind of caught me off guard, because it was a clean shot to the kidneys. and I turned back and there was Kevin," Burchett said. "As I have stated many times, he is a bully with $17 million and a security detail. he is the type of guy that when you are a kid, he would throw the rock over the fence and run home to hide behind his mama's skirt... I ran after him, and [said] 'what the heck, why did you do that?'"

"You don't expect somebody who was three steps away from the White House to hit you with a sucker punch in the hallway," Burchett added.

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The Tennessee congressman reiterated to Raju that the blow "still hurts," and that he felt McCarthy intentionally targeted him.

"There's 435 Congressmen. I was one of eight [Republicans] that voted against him," Rep. Burchett told Raju.

Watch the full video below or by clicking this link.