Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has branded the eight GOP lawmakers who voted to oust Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California from the speakership as "traitors."

"From my position as a longtime Republican activist, they're traitors," Gingrich declared during an appearance on Fox News Channel's "Hannity." He said they should all be primaried and "driven" from "public life."

After GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida instigated the move to oust McCarthy, he and seven other Republicans joined Democrats in voting to remove McCarthy from the speaker's post. McCarthy later announced that he will not seek the role again.

Gingrich, who served as a House lawmaker from the state of Georgia for two decades spanning from early 1979 until early 1999, accused the eight Republicans of being "egocentric people."

He said that he hopes Gaetz gets expelled from the House Republican conference.

"If I were speaker, they wouldn't be in the conference," Gingrich said of the eight GOP lawmakers, adding that he would demand that they prove to him that they are loyal Republicans.

The eight Republicans who voted to oust McCarthy included Reps. Andy Biggs of Arizona, Ken Buck of Colorado, Tim Burchett of Tennessee, Eli Crane of Arizona, Bob Good of Virginia, Nancy Mace of South Carolina, Matt Rosendale of Montana, and Matt Gaetz of Florida.

Republican Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Steve Scalise of Louisiana have thrown their hats in the ring to replace McCarthy as speaker.

Gaetz has indicated that he would be willing to vote for either of the men. "If it's Speaker Jim Jordan or Speaker Steve Scalise there will be very few conservatives in the country who don't see that as a monumental upgrade over Speaker McCarthy," he said during an appearance on Newsmax.

GOP Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky has expressed his support for Jordan.

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