McCarthy has choice words for ouster Gaetz, who hurls back a snarky retort (video)

Kevin McCarthy is still smarting a month after Matt Gaetz and his seven cohorts dethroned the former speaker from his seat. And when asked by CNN's Manu Raju if the Republican party would do better without Gaetz around, the ousted puppet answered with one powerful word.

"Tremendously," he said.

And when asked if Gaetz should be expelled? "That's up to the conference," he said, before passive-aggressively letting us know what he really thought. "But I mean, I don't believe the conference will ever heal if there's no consequences for the action." In other words, "Yep, the Florida man needs to go."

Raju reached out to Gaetz, who responded to McCarthy the way Republicans always respond to another's misfortune: "Thoughts and prayers to the former speaker as he works through his grief." (See video below, posted by Manu Raju.)