The Kendrick Lamar vs. Drake feud — already dubbed the biggest beef in recent rap history — is a story of two successful individuals, who have large egos, fed up with one another.
Sound familiar?
Beefs — both personal and policy-based, some of which can take a petty turn — are a tale as old as time on Capitol Hill, where clashes between some of the country’s most prominent public figures, fueled by uber self confidence and a strong determination to achieve legislative goals, frequently erupt.
Sometimes, those battles spill out into the open.
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) spearheaded an effort to remove former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) from the top job last year, the pinnacle of their long-running brawl that is still alive and well months later.
Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) dubbed Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) a “Smurf” during a House Oversight Committee hearing, prompting the Democrat to sport a blue tie with the cartoon character at a subsequent meeting.
And, of course, there is the bitter battle between Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, which hit a fever pitch this week when, after weeks of waffling, the Georgia Republican moved to force a vote on the GOP leader’s ouster, which failed in resounding fashion amid staunch opposition from conservatives, Democrats and former President Trump.
If Kendrick and Drake are setting records for recent rap history, the 118th Congress may take the cake for clashes on Capitol Hill.
“We are living in a moment where people just want to argue with themselves, and it’s really kind of sad,” said Rep. Marc Molinaro (R-N.Y.). “It’s like, let’s find a reason to dislike one another.”
The past year and a half has featured some of the most heated, animated, colorful and consequential fights in Congress, a theme that has been on full display since the start of the session.
In the first week of the 118th Congress — as House Republicans struggled to elect McCarthy as Speaker — Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) lunged at Gaetz, who was leading the opposition to McCarthy, a stunning scene on the floor that was captured by cameras in the chamber. Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) grabbed Rogers’s face in a dramatic fashion to hold him back.
And that was just how the two-year term began.
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