WASHINGTON — She has called him a “moron.”He has publicly expressed his desire to strike her with the large wooden gavel that is used to maintain order in the House, although his aides later emphasized that it was only in fun.
In the event the Republicans take control of the House in next month's elections, Speaker Nancy Pelosi's relationship with the man most likely to succeed her is hardly cordial. And as the potential succession date approaches, she has less and less interest in hiding her disdain for leading Republican Representative Kevin McCarthy of California.When Mr. McCarthy said that Ms. Pelosi was preventing Democrats from speaking out about what he called a catastrophe at the border, Ms. Pelosi responded in a press conference last week, saying, "I don't even know what he's talking about — and I don't know if he does."
The next week, her spokesperson Drew Hammill attacked Mr. McCarthy for holding a press conference on the Capitol steps to discuss "fire Nancy Pelosi." It was "about par for the course," according to Mr. Hammill, for an uninspiring and incoherent politician like the minority leader, whose only real accomplishment to date has been to draft a radical right-wing wish list that makes it abundantly clear to the American people that House Republicans have lost their minds.Those were the final, edited words.Ms. Pelosi, who at 82 is serving as the first female speaker of the House for the eighth year, excels at demeaning male colleagues she deems wanting. She honed her craft during the Trump administration, as seen by the time she was caught on camera ripping up the text of the president's State of the Union speech.
She responded to Mr. McCarthy as "such an idiot" last year for asserting that the House's mask mandate was "not a choice based on science."
Mr. McCarthy, 57, provided Ms. Pelosi with plenty of material for mockery and animosity when he made his gavel joke in front of a gathering of fundraisers last year. She disallowed Trump supporters from serving on the select committee looking into the Capitol disturbance on January 6, 2021, and Mr. McCarthy claimed she had "destroyed this institution" as a result. He frequently refers to her as a "lame duck speaker."
Ms. Pelosi, whose associates claim detests spinelessness and idiocy, has accused Mr. McCarthy of acting like a buffoon in contrast to Mr. McCarthy, who has accused her of partisanship and misuse of power.
Last year, Mr. McCarthy's eight-and-a-half-hour floor speech, which at times veered into the absurd, prevented the House from passing the Democrats' most important domestic policy bill. Ms. Pelosi's office described it as a "meandering rant" and remarked: "As he hopefully approaches the end, we're all left wondering: Does Kevin McCarthy know where he is right now?"
His apparent difficulty with the fundamentals of the English language is something that her sympathizers in Congress frequently bring up. Ms. Pelosi "will go at no elms to breach the rules," according to Mr. McCarthy once.
On Capitol Hill, partisan disputes and insults are nothing new. Former Massachusetts Democratic Speaker Tip O'Neill once referred to Representatives Newt Gingrich of Georgia, Bob Walker of Pennsylvania, and Vin Weber of Minnesota as the "Three Stooges," three of his Republican adversaries. However, Mr. Gingrich claimed that the moniker was given "with a sense of humor."
A reference to their institutional responsibilities, speakers in recent history have given at least a measure of respect to their colleagues in the opposition party despite the fact that they are partisan leaders and also elected by the entire House, as required by the Constitution.
For Ms. Pelosi and Mr. McCarthy, it is becoming less and less true. People close to her claimed that she didn't just perceive the Republican leader as an ineffective lawmaker but as no kind of lawmaker at all.
The two are polar opposites in many aspects.
Ms. Pelosi takes great satisfaction in her virtuoso control over her contentious caucus and her ability to shepherd challenging legislation through the frequently turbulent House. In order to win the former president's favor, Mr. McCarthy famously took out his favorite red and pink Starburst candy from the pack and gave them to him. Throughout his time in Congress, Mr. McCarthy has prioritized politics over policy. In recent years, he has frequently catered to Mr. Trump or the most extremist members of his conference.
When questioned about their relationship, Mr. Hammill responded, "It's impossible for any serious person to respect someone better at counting Starbursts than votes."
The two Republican speakers who preceded her, John Boehner and Paul Ryan, were not particularly close, but their offices frequently collaborated, and Ms. Pelosi never regarded them with such contempt. Even behind the scenes, Ms. Pelosi has very little to do with Mr. McCarthy's office. Republicans in the House abstained from taking part in this year's budget talks.
Democrats claimed that Ms. Pelosi's outward hostility for the minority leader is merely a sign of the post-Trump political landscape.
Former Missouri majority leader and Democrat Richard Gephardt remarked, "This contempt is really part and piece of where we are in the country between the parties and between people. "The people are reflected in Congress. Congress will reflect the polarized, divisive, and nasty nature of the people.
Ms. Pelosi and Mr. McCarthy were never close. But things weren't always so horrible.
From the California Central Valley, Mr. McCarthy joined Congress in 2007, the same year that Ms. Pelosi made history by becoming the first female speaker. He didn't advance to a leadership role until 2014, and Ms. Pelosi at the time was gracious about working opposite someone from a conservative region of her home state.
She remarked at the time, "I know him as a Californian. "I hope he does well,"
We can all cooperate because it is what the American people need and deserve, she continued.
In the same year, Mr. McCarthy wrote a piece for Breitbart California, a newly launched political website, which he claimed would help fill a "vacuum of conservative activism" in his red state. However, Mr. McCarthy deemed the photo unacceptable and requested that his column be taken down from the website when the site published a crude photoshopped image of Ms. Pelosi on all fours in a bikini.
Politics evolved during this time. When Mr. Trump was president, Mr. McCarthy, who was playing the pleaser, got the moniker "my Kevin" from him. After the attack on January 6, he assisted in Mr. Trump's political resuscitation by visiting him at Mar-a-Lago in Florida, soliciting his support for Democrats in the midterm elections, and opposing the establishment of an inquiry into the Capitol riot.
Ms. Pelosi has stopped acting as though they are able to collaborate.
At a news conference this year, she referred to Mr. McCarthy's refusal to denounce a Republican National Committee resolution that referred to the events leading up to the Jan. 6 attack as "legitimate political discourse" as "he literally ran away from the press when he was asked about his position."
She continued, "Republicans seem to be competing with themselves to see how low they can go."
In his time as speaker, Mr. Gingrich, who oversaw an investigation that led to the removal of Speaker Jim Wright, a Democrat from Texas, claimed that there was visceral animosity between members of the two parties. However, courteous disagreement prevailed more frequently.
Rep. Tom Foley, a Democrat from Washington, was described by Mr. Gingrich as "simply a beautiful human being" and "fantastic to deal with."
Having to turn over the gavel to Mr. Gingrich after the Democrats lost 54 seats in the 1994 midterm elections, ending their 40-year control, left Mr. Gephardt feeling less than happy.
In an interview, Mr. Gephardt stated, "I feared having to do it." I put a lot of effort into what I said. But he managed a respectful handoff and made the most of the opportunity to praise democracy.
Then, Mr. Gephardt added, "We might not all agree with today's changing of the guard. "We carry out the will of the people with dignity, honor, and pride."
When the Republicans previously took over the House in 2011, Ms. Pelosi passed the gavel to Mr. Boehner while crying and wished her successor well.
Ms. Pelosi declared, "I now pass this gavel and the solemn trust that comes with it to the future speaker." I pray for Speaker Boehner.
It's tough to picture her and Mr. McCarthy having such a conversation. If Republicans win the midterm elections, many in California have predicted that Ms. Pelosi will step down, ending her 35-year tenure.
If so, she might not even be present when Mr. McCarthy's big moment arrives.
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