Kevin McCarthy says expulsion of George Santos was a mistake

Rep. Kevin McCarthy said that George Santos' expulsion from Congress was a mistake and that the disgraced New York Republican should have had "his day in court" before being cast out of the chamber. 

"I would have leaned to some other punishment for him," said McCarthy, who did not cast a vote in the expulsion of Santos because he was out of town at the time. 

Santos should have been tried in a court of law before the House of Representatives expelled him, the California Republican said, the New York Post reported Saturday. A censure, such as the one New York Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman received for illegally pulling the House fire alarm, would have been a better punishment for Santos, McCarthy said.

Meanwhile, McCarthy said that he thinks Florida GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz, who has been under a House Ethics Committee investigation, may have committed a more serious misfeasance than Santos. 

Gaetz "doesn’t want whatever’s in that ethics complaint to come forward," McCarthy said about the Ethics Committee probe following the Justice Department's decision to not bring any charges against him in a sex-trafficking investigation. 

"He’s willing to destroy the Congress if that’s what it takes. So it must be something very serious and it seems much more serious than whatever Santos [did]," McCarthy said. 

Gaetz, who led the effort to oust McCarthy from his position as speaker, offered his "thoughts and prayers to the former congressman" when reached for comment.  

McCarthy is set to leave the House by the end of this year. 

Follow Madeleine Hubbard on X or Instagram.