Peter Doocy, Fox News Channel’s White House Correspondent, again put White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on her back foot Wednesday, asking what the White House thinks about the possibility, one floated by numerous GOP members of the House, of Trump as Speaker of the House.
For reference, the Speaker of the House does not technically have to be a member of the House of Representatives, so some Republicans have suggested replacing McCarthy with former President Donald Trump.
For example, Rep. Troy Nehls tweeted, “Kevin McCarthy will NOT be running again as Speaker. I nominate Donald J. Trump for Speaker of the House.” He added, “This week, when the U.S. House of Representatives reconvenes, my first order of business will be to nominate Donald J. Trump for Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. President Trump, the greatest President of my lifetime, has a proven record of putting America First and will make the House great again.”
Similarly, Rep. MTG said, “The only candidate for Speaker I am currently supporting is President Donald J. Trump. He will end the war in Ukraine. He will secure the border. He will end the politically weaponized government. He will make America energy independent again,” she said. “He will pass my bill to stop transgender surgeries on kids and keep men out of women’s sports. He will support our military and police. And so much more! He has a proven 4 year record as President of the United States of America,” she continued.
In any case, Peter Doocy asked KJP about the potential for Trump to be the one leading the House during the Wednesday press briefing. He asked, “In any of the meetings about this in the last 24 hours, has anybody in the West Wing heard anybody talking about the possibility of Speaker Trump?”
KJP, as usual, did not have much of an answer and instead tried to punt the question. “This is something for House Republicans to figure out. This is something for them to fix. We’re not going to get involved in the speakership. We don’t care who they — who is in the race or who is out the race. That is not for us to figure out. The President doesn’t have a vote. No one here has a vote. They have to figure this out,” she said.
Immediately before Doocy’s question, KJP had tried to foist the blame for government dysfunction on Republicans, saying, “When — it is important for Congress to work — not for us, but on behalf of the American people. It is important to make sure that we meet the challenges of the American people. That’s what’s important.”
She continued, “What we saw — and you heard from the President — what we saw on Saturday should have never have happened. We’re glad that a deal was made. We’re glad that we’re not in a shutdown. But House Republicans should have never gotten us that far. And so, they are the majority in the House. They can fix this. They’re creating the chaos. That is not helpful to the American people.”
She added, “That’s why you saw the President today talk about student debt relief and talk about what else he’s doing to make sure that we’re giving a little bit of breathing room to the American people. That’s why you heard from the President yesterday talking about — or our announcement talking about how we’re continuing to beat Big Pharma so we can lower prescription drug costs for the American people. That’s what the President cares about. That’s what he wants to see: What can we continue to do to help Americans as they face really tough challenges?”
Watch that here:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video
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