During a recent episode of his show, Fox News Channel’s Tucker Carlson demolished the Establishment Republicans, including Kevin McCarthy, for not acting in a reasonable way. According to him, McCarthy should either step out of the way and let someone who can win step up, or try to win over those holdouts who don’t like him.
But that’s not, in Tucker’s view, what McCarthy is doing. Instead, he and his cronies are using threats to intimidate people into voting for Kevin McCarthy, something that doesn’t seem to be working.
"You don't want to be ruled by a man who wears a Ukrainian flag lapel pin and lives with Frank Luntz?" 🤣pic.twitter.com/rKNpcazqfC
— Hans Mahncke (@HansMahncke) January 5, 2023
“Here’s the latest summarized: Kevin McCarthy badly wants to be the next Speaker of the House. But as of tonight, he is not going to be. He doesn’t have the votes. It’s not a question of who’s good, who’s bad, who’s well-intentioned, who’s not. It’s a question of simple electoral math, something that Kevin McCarthy is highly familiar with, since he does this for a living.
“At this point, as of right now, facing that mathematical reality, Kevin McCarthy has two choices. He can either step aside and let somebody else do the job, acknowledging, in the process, that he is not the only person in Congress capable of being Speaker. Or he can try and win over the people who oppose him as you traditionally do in elections, ‘you’ve got reservations about Kevin McCarthy. You don’t want to be ruled by a man who wears Ukrainian flag lapel pin and lives with Frank Luntz. No problem, we got it. Let us tell you how he’s better than you think he is. Let us try and change your mind. Let us try to convince you.’
“In a normal race, that’s what you would do. But that is not what Kevin McCarthy’s team is doing. Instead, like the left they purport to oppose. They’re using threats and fear to force people to support the candidate. Anyone who opposes Kevin McCarthy, one of his surrogates explained today is quote, an enemy, quote, terrorist. That’s their message. In a moment we’ll tell you how that message is working.”
The terrorist line is a reference to the recent statements Dan Crenshaw made in which he labeled those GOP members of the House that are refusing to back Kevin McCarthy “terrorists,” saying that “we can’t let the terrorists win.” He later defended his use of the term by telling people to stop clutching their pearls.
Former President Trump, for his part, took a different view from Tucker, suggesting that there were ongoing negotiations and that those negotiations over who would be Speaker were wrapping up. Posting about that on Truth Social, he said:
Very good things are happening behind the scenes for the Republican Party. Intense but Smart negotiations between GREAT and PATRIOTIC people are ongoing. They all love our Country, and want something to go forward, ASAP. This “event” will end up making the Republican Party STRONGER and more UNITED than ever before. OUR NATION IS AT STAKE. Stay tuned and, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
I actually think that a big Republican VICTORY today, after going through numerous Roll Calls that failed to produce a Speaker of the House, has made the position & process of getting to be Speaker BIGGER & MORE IMPORTANT than if it were done in the more traditional way, much like me again becoming President after having won big in 2016, gotten many Millions of MORE VOTES in 2020 but “supposedly” not winning (BIG LIE!), & then winning again in 2024. It will be BIGGER than the traditional way!
Tucker image credit: screengrab from embedded Twitter video
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