Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell spoke out in support of ousted House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday, applauding his service in a "thankless role." 

McConnell, R-Ky., released the statement thanking McCarthy, R-Calif., for his short tenure following the successful rebellion of eight GOP lawmakers culminating in his removal as speaker.

"Speaker McCarthy has my sincere thanks for his service to our nation in what is often a thankless role," McConnell wrote. "The Speaker’s tenure was bookended by historic fights, but as he reminded his colleagues when he took the gavel, 'our nation is worth fighting for.'"

VIVEK SAYS 'NO BETTER PLAN' THAN MCCARTHY REMOVAL, LAWMAKERS SHOULD 'OWN IT'

Eight hard-line Republican lawmakers joined every present House Democrat in Tuesday’s historic vote to oust McCarthy from the top job.

The Senate minority leader's comments on the former speaker struck a gushing tone, saying McCarthy "brought the hopes, dreams, and concerns of the people" to Congress.

"The Speaker’s appetite for worthy causes steered a narrow majority to seize historic opportunities for the American people and for conservative principles," McConnell wrote. "His willingness to face the biggest challenges head-on helped preserve the full faith and credit of the United States and showed colleagues how to handle every outcome with grace."

GAETZ TAKES VICTORY LAP AFTER HISTORIC VOTE TO BOOT MCCARTHY FROM HOUSE SPEAKERSHIP

McCarthy angered hardliners over the weekend when he passed a short-term spending bill known as a continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government open for 45 days in order to avert a government shutdown and give lawmakers more time to cobble together 12 individual spending bills.

Ninety House Republicans voted against the CR on Saturday, arguing that it was a "clean" extension of the previous Democrat-held Congress' policies. But the speaker's previous attempts to put a CR on the table that would cut spending for its short duration were upended by several of those same conservatives who were opposed to any such measure on principle.

"We're concerned about the future of the conservative agenda in the House," said Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla, who was the informal leader of McCarthy's critics. "I would say that the conservative agenda was being paralyzed by Speaker McCarthy." 

McCarthy said Gaetz's move was "personal" and suggested it was done in retaliation for an ongoing Ethics Committee investigation into his conduct. 

Fox News Digital's Elizabeth Elkind , Brandon Gillespie and Jamie Joseph contributed to this report.

A bus carrying dozens of people plummeted 50 feet from an elevated road in Venice, Italy, causing a fiery crash that killed 21 people and injured at least 15, mostly foreign tourists returning to a nearby campsite.

Those who died in the Tuesday night crash included at least five Ukrainians, one German citizen and the man who was driving the bus, according to Venice prefecture.

At least two of the dead were children, Venice prefect Michele Di Bari said, adding that many of the people involved in the accident were "young." Nine people were in critical condition, hospital officials said late Wednesday morning, including a 3-year-old girl from Ukraine.

AT LEAST 20 PEOPLE KILLED IN 'APOCALYPTIC' CRASH AFTER BUS PLUNGES FROM BRIDGE

Firefighters worked until dawn Wednesday to clear the wreckage. Later in the morning, traffic was slowly passing the spot where the bus burst through a guardrail and a rusted fence.

Passersby stopped to contemplate the accident. A couple of locals said that the overpass was more than 60 years old and that nothing similar had ever happened there, while a man wearing a biker jacket stopped his motorcycle to tie to a post a bouquet of plastic flowers.

The bus was carrying foreign tourists from Venice’s Piazzale Roma to the Hu campground on Tuesday evening when it fell from an elevated street next to railway tracks in the borough of Mestre, catching fire. Tourists frequently stay in boroughs across the lagoon from the canals of Venice’s famous historic center to find cheaper accommodations.

The injured, including five in serious condition, included French, Spanish, Austrian and Croatian nationals, local officials said. The Spanish Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that two people from Spain were injured in the accident, and both were in hospital and in good condition.

The reason for the crash was unclear. Venice city councilor Renato Boraso said the driver, Alberto Rizzotto, was experienced. Local prosecutors are investigating if he felt ill.

LOSS OF 12 NEWBORNS SPARKS OUTRAGE AND INQUIRY IN INDIAN HOSPITAL

Rescuers noted that the fact that the bus was electric contributed to the massive fire and made rescue operations more difficult.

Godstime Erheneden was in his apartment near the accident when he heard a crash outside. He rushed outside and was among the first to enter the bus.

"When we went in, we saw the driver right away. He was dead. I carried a woman out on my shoulders, then a man," Erheneden told the local newspaper il Gazzettino.

"The woman was screaming, 'my daughter, my daughter,’ and I went back in. I saw this girl who must have been 2 years old. I have a son who is a year and 10 months old, and they are the same size. I felt like I was holding my son in my arms. It was terrible. I don’t know if she survived. I thought she was alive but when the rescuers arrived they took her away immediately," Erheneden said.

Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the scene was "apocalyptic" and declared a state of mourning.

In 2017, 16 people on a bus carrying Hungarian students died in an accident near the northern city of Verona. And in 2013, 40 people were killed in one of Italy’s worst vehicle accidents when a bus plunged off a viaduct close to the southern city of Avellino.