Kevin McCarthy really, really hates Matt Gaetz

Like, a lot.

Here’s the key thing to understand about Congress: It works exactly like high school.

There are the cool kids. And the nerds. And the theater types. And the loners.

It’s governed, in short, by cliques — and personalities.

Some (many?) members are actual real-life friends — even people who aren’t on the same side of the political aisle. (This is, of course, less common now than it was even 25 years ago.)

And, just like high school, there are a fair number of Members who actively loathe one another.

Which brings me to former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz. And this comment made by McCarthy in an interview at Georgetown University on Tuesday night:

Just in case you didn’t catch all of that, McCarthy said this:

I'll give you the truth why I'm not speaker. It's because one person, a member of Congress, wanted me to stop an ethics complaint because he slept with a 17-year-old ... Did he do it or not? I don't know.

Which, well:

Let’s do a bit of back story here, shall we?