McCarthy jokes it 'will be hard not to hit' Pelosi with gavel at Tennessee dinner

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) — House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., is facing backlash after joking that it "will be hard not to hit" House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with the speaker's gavel if he becomes speaker.

The comments came during the Tennessee Republican Party’s annual Statesmen’s Dinner this weekend in Nashville.

"I'll make this one promise here: When we win the majority, which I know we're going to, you're all invited," McCarthy said, speaking on if Republicans take control of the chamber in the 2022 midterms and he becomes speaker. "I want you to watch Nancy Pelosi hand me that gavel. It'll be hard not to hit her with it, but I will bang it down."

Pelosi's Deputy Chief of Staff Drew Hammill took swift action on Twitter.

A threat of violence to someone who was a target of a #January6th assassination attempt from your fellow Trump supporters is irresponsible and disgusting," Hammill tweeted.

U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tennessee, also took to social media to demand an apology from McCarthy.

Violence of any kind - but especially against women - is never a laughing matter. Kevin McCarthy should apologize for his disgusting comment in Nashville last night," Cooper tweeted Sunday.

Numerous other Democrats have also spoken out against McCarthy's comments.