In the quiet, marbled halls of the U.S. Capitol, speaking too frankly is frowned upon by most lawmakers.

And then there’s Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), the firebrand whom critics accused Tuesday of saying the silent part out loud by talking about the stalled-but-continuing federal debt limit talks as akin to a hostage negotiation.

Referring to the bill on the debt limit and spending cuts that passed the House with only Republican votes, Gaetz said: “I think my conservative colleagues for the most part support Limit, Save, Grow & they don’t feel like we should negotiate with our hostage,” according to a reporter for Semafor.

Gaetz’s seeming brazenness immediately drew fire from some Democratic allies on Twitter. CAP Action, the political arm of the liberal Center for American Progress think tank, said, “Rep. Gaetz said the quiet part out loud ― this was never about fiscal health, and always about holding our economy hostage to enact an extremist economic agenda that experts predict would push the economy into […]