House speaker vote an ‘utter, unmitigated disaster’ for GOP: Rove
Fox News contributor Karl Rove reacts to the House speaker vote moving past the first ballot and dissects the implications for Republicans if voting continues.
Conservatives and liberals on Twitter exploded on Tuesday as House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy failed repeatedly to secure the votes to be the next House speaker.
McCarthy, R-Calif., needs 218 votes out of the 222 incoming Republicans to become speaker of the House, giving just four GOP lawmakers the power to make or break his ambitions for the top spot.
Leftist activist "Jo" tweeted that today was a good day not to be Kevin McCarthy: "Whatever is happening in your life right now, at least you aren’t Kevin McCarthy."
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., walks to a meeting with House Republicans at the U.S. Capitol Building on Jan. 3, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Collin Rugg, a conservative media personality, tweeted that the establishment was becoming nervous over McCarthy’s speaker debacle: "Matt Gaetz says Republican House members were threatened with removal from committees if they didn’t vote for Kevin McCarthy. The swamp is getting scared."
When a third vote went against McCarthy, which included Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., switching his vote from McCarthy to Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, liberal podcaster Brian Taylor Cohen wrote, "Holy s---. Republican opposition to Kevin McCarthy just GREW from the last round. McCarthy is in deep, deep trouble."
Liberal pundit Victor Shi criticized the Republican Party in another viral tweet with over 5,700 likes: "Kevin McCarthy just lost his bid to be Speaker AGAIN with at least 5 House Republicans voting against him so far. If Republicans can't even nominate a Speaker, how will they pass any substantial legislation? This is utter chaos and a complete embarrassment."
Shi continued in another tweet: "I wish I was making this up. But I'm not. 6 House Republicans have voted for Jim Jordan so far. Kevin McCarthy might be a bigger loser than even Donald Trump. Wow."
Top members of the GOP have raged in private and in public over the speakership vote, with Rep. Lauren Boebert R-Colo., saying that the situation was "bull----" during a Republican House Conference meeting Tuesday.
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Another conservative critic of McCarthy said Republicans twisting in the wind had it coming to them.
"'What if the alternative to McCarthy is worse?'" Chronicles' Pedro Gonzalez wrote. "Then it’s an earned indictment of the GOP. It’s proof the party would rather force-feed people trash than do better. And if that’s the case, then it should happen, and people should reckon with it."
Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas., became particularly heated over the leadership crisis on Tuesday, telling CNN that certain Republicans valued "notoriety over principle," and even called them "enemies."
As of Tuesday evening, it doesn't appear the House is anywhere close to selecting a new speaker with Republicans in the majority.
Fox News’ David Rutz, Patrick Hauf and Houston Keene contributed to this report.
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