Tennessee Rep. Tim Burchett accused former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield), whom he helped oust from the post last month, of elbowing him in a Capitol Hill hallway on Tuesday.

“You just don’t expect a man who was once three steps away from the White House to punch you in the hallway,” Burchett said later.

McCarthy denied the accusation, telling reporters that he “didn’t push him or elbow him, it’s a tight hallway.” Burchett insisted McCarthy hit him deliberately and told reporters he can still feel it.

“It was a bull’s eye,” he told reporters.

A reporter present supported Burchett’s story.

Burchett’s back was to McCarthy and his team when “McCarthy pushed Burchett,” NPR’s Claudia Grisales, who interviewed Burchett in a Capitol hallway. wrote on X, the app formerly known as Twitter.

“Burchett came toward me. I thought it was a joke, but it wasn’t

wrote Grisales.

Burchett then shouted:

according to Grisales,

“Why did you elbow me in the back Kevin?! Hey Kevin, you have guts!”

according to Grisales.

Burchett told the reporter that McCarthy was a “jerk” before taking off after McCarthy down the hall. When he caught up with McCarthy,

he shouted, he “screamed”

‘Hey Kevin, why did you walk behind me and elbow me in the back?'”

“I didn’t elbow you in the back,” McCarthy

replied.

‘You don’t have the guts. You did,” Burchett replied. ‘What kind of chicken move is that. You’re a pathetic man, you’re so pathetic.’

As Burchett walked away from McCarthy, he again told Grisales that McCarthy was a “jerk” before shouting directly at the Californian, “You need security, Kevin!”

Burchett later told CNN that Grisales’ retelling was “very accurate.” He said the exchange is “symptomatic of the problems that [McCarthy] had in his short tenure as speaker.”

He said the slap

to his back

“It still hurts because it’s a

S

shot in the kidneys,” but said he would not file an ethics complaint against McCarthy. ‘He is not worth it. He’ll be out of here after Christmas or next year.’

Burchett was skeptical of McCarthy’s claim that he had no intention of elbowing him.

Burchett added that he was one of eight who voted to impeach McCarthy, noting that “t

has a hall, there is plenty of space. You can walk four side by side. He chose to do what he did. It will end here, I’m sure. It will be a little star

S

about his legendary career.”

Burchett

added

added, “I’m praying for him. I hope he finds some happiness in his life.”

McCarthy has pondered whether that is the case

or not

to run again for his seat since he was expelled from the party leadership last month.

The historic vote threw the House of Representatives into chaos as Republicans failed to elect a new speaker for three weeks. The House ultimately decided that Mike Johnson of Louisiana would become the next Speaker of the House, after passing over three other lawmakers, Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana; Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, chairman of the Judiciary Committee; and majority whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota.

Spokespeople for McCarthy and Burchett did not respond to a request for comment.

The incident occurred just hours before the House of Representatives was set to vote on bills to prevent a government shutdown.

On the other side of Capitol Hill, a Senate

The hearing on labor issues became tense when Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin read an old tweet

T

Sean O’Brien, CEO of Teamsters

,

who was testing,

in which O’Brien promised to confront the senator “anywhere, anytime, cowboy.”

“Sir, this is the time. This is the place,” Mullin told O’Brien. “If you want to talk, we can be two consenting adults. We can finish it here. Do you want to do it right now?’

Mullin stood up after O’Brien responded “yes” and appeared to try to remove his wedding ring. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who chaired the hearing, raised his voice and told Mullin and the witness to cool down.

At a press conference Tuesday afternoon, Johnson, the new speaker, noted that Capitol Hill is a “pressure cooker,” adding that lawmakers have been in Washington.

D.C

for

the last

10 weeks.