Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) put House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) on notice and endorsed Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) for speaker.
As it now appears the GOP will win the majority in the House, Republicans are preparing to choose a new speaker to replace Democrat Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).
“I prefer Ohio’s Jim Jordan,” Gaetz said of McCarthy taking the speakership during his podcast, “Firebrand with Matt Gaetz.”
“And it is not always easy for a guy from the deep south to be for someone from a Big 10 state.
“But I am certain that Americans didn’t hand Republicans this majority in the House just to watch the speaker’s gavel get handed from one member of the California delegation to another.
“With such a slim majority, we shouldn’t be starting the C-Team.
“We need to put our star players in a position to shine brightest so that we can attract more people to our policies and ideas.
“The policies Kevin McCarthy has pushed are as unhelpful as they are unserious.
“None are actually inspired by Kevin McCarthy, though many feel financially beholden to him because He is the Lebron James of special interest fundraising.
“In this last cycle Kevin McCarthy and his team raised half a billion dollars in campaign money, and that buys a lot of friends, or at a minimum rents them.
“There is a movement among some in the House Freedom Caucus to request a delay in the leadership elections because we don’t yet know who will be a Republican member of Congress,” he said.
Kevin McCarthy:
Defended Liz Cheney when @jdanbishop first sought her ouster
Told GOP Leadership Trump should resign after J6
Kevin is FLIGHT over FIGHT when the chips are down
He is not a Speaker for these times
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) November 11, 2022
McCarthy said on Fox News that he’s “not concerned” about GOP lawmakers who are unhappy with him.
“Think about this,” McCarthy said.
“Since I’ve been leader for the last four years, we’ve only gained seats.
“The goal is winning the majority.
“We won the majority.
“I think I accomplished the goal that we wanted to.
“People could have input.
“We want to have a very open input process.
“We’re going to have a smaller majority.
“So we’re going to find that we work together to think about what else we did.
“Not only did we win the majority, we beat the DCCC chair.
“That has not happened in 42 years,” he said.
Gaetz also tweeted the names of McCarthy, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel.
He then ended the post with “McFailure.”
McCarthy
McConnell
McDanielMcFailure
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) November 10, 2022
