Remember when people could make even “offensive” jokes, and everyone realized they were just that – jokes – and they didn’t face career suicide for it?

House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy sure is longing for those days as he is facing calls to step down after he joked about having to restrain himself from hitting Speaker Nancy Pelosi over the head with a gavel should his party takes control of the chamber next year.

McCarthy was given an oversized gavel adorned with the words “Fire Pelosi” by members of Tennessee’s Republican congressional delegation during a recent GOP dinner event in Nashville.

The Republican leader was bullish about the prospects of the GOP regaining control of the House and him becoming Speaker; as a result, inviting the attendees of the dinner to come to the Capitol to witness Pelosi turning over the Speaker’s gavel to him.

“It will be hard not to hit her with it, but I will bang it down,” McCarthy said, according to Washington Post reporter Michael Scherer.

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) was quick to say that McCarthy must go over the comment.

“America has suffered enough violence around politics,” Swalwell tweeted. “@GOPLeader McCarthy is now a would-be assailant of @SpeakerPelosi. He needs to resign.”

Other Dems also showed their inability to take a joke.

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) called on McCarthy to apologize to Pelosi or step down.

“Dear @GOPLeader McCarthy: Don’t you think America has had enough political violence? You should never be encouraging or threatening or joking about causing violence to anyone, including the Speaker of the House,” Lieu wrote on Twitter.

“You need to apologize for your statement or resign,” he said.

McCarthy’s joke is just the latest salvo in a war of words that erupted between the Minority Leader and the Speaker in the last few weeks.

McCarthy called out his Democratic counterpart’s “hypocrisy” for not wearing a mask in the House after she renewed the mask mandate for the chamber amid the surge in cases because of the highly infectious Delta variant.

Earlier in the week, Pelosi called McCarthy a “moron” for arguing the mask rule was unscientific.

Pelosi’s spokesman, Drew Hammill, lashed out at McCarthy over his use of language but stopped short of demanding that the Republican resign.

“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 said on Twitter.

At press time, McCarthy’s office has not responded directly to Hammill’s comments or Tweets.