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5 Stories From This Past Year That Prove Kevin McCarthy Is Not Deserving of House Speaker Role

Posted on by Rusty Weiss

Fox News host Tucker Carlson perhaps summed up yesterday’s chaos in the House the best, explaining why some true conservatives are not willing to vote for Kevin McCarthy as Speaker.

“Kevin McCarthy of California was going to be Speaker,” Carlson said. “But then a group of 20 Republican members stopped him.”

He added, “They stopped him because they decided that Kevin McCarthy is not conservative enough to represent a party that’s just taking back the House from Nancy Pelosi.”

“And they are definitely right about that.”

RELATED: Donald Trump Loudly Backs Kevin McCarthy for Speaker, Blames Mitch McConnell For Chaos in the House

McCarthy, though, has the strong backing of former President Donald Trump. He sports an 88% rating in the current session from the conservative Heritage Action group (though his lifetime score from FreedomWorks is under 70%.)

He even has support from consistently strong MAGA supporters like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.

So what is the problem here? Why are 20 other right-leaning Republicans refusing to support his speakership?

“McCarthy is not especially conservative,” Carlson explains. “He is, in fact, ideologically agnostic. He’s flexible.”

And that flexibility has true conservatives concerned that he will be awarded the role and revert back to the all-too-familiar face of a false leader for the Republican message – like the Boehners and Ryans we’ve seen in the recent past.

Or, to revert back to McCarthy from 2012 to 2018, when his Heritage Action group rating was nearly indiscernible from Adam Kinzinger, ranging between 40% and 57%.

With that, we list off five stories from this past year alone that prove Kevin McCarthy may not be worthy of getting a clean vote for Speaker of the House.

Tried to Get MAGA Conservatives Banned From Twitter

In a move that is little different than that of Democrats and the FBI, McCarthy openly pondered the possibility of getting conservatives banned from social media.

Audio surfaced in April of the lawmaker denouncing fellow Republicans – particularly America First Representatives Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Lauren Boebert (R-CO), and Mo Brooks (R-AL) – for ‘putting other lawmakers at risk’ with their comments about the 2020 election.

“Well, he’s putting people in jeopardy, and he doesn’t need to be doing this,” McCarthy said of Gaetz for referring to those unwilling to fight the 2020 election results as ‘anti-Trump.’ “We saw what people would do in the Capitol, you know?”

“Can’t they take their Twitter accounts away, too?” the California Republican would later ask.

His words prompted Carlson to denounce McCarthy as “a puppet of the Democratic Party.”

Caught On Audio Discussing Blaming Trump For Capitol Riot

More audiotapes released the following month featured McCarthy describing Trump’s actions surrounding the January 6th riot at the Capitol as “atrocious.”

He would later discuss options such as invoking the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office but ultimately decided it would take “too long.”

“Look, what the president did is atrocious and totally wrong,” McCarthy said of Trump in a call recorded on January 8th.

What Trump did was urge protesters concerned about election integrity to make their voices “peacefully” and “patriotically” heard.

Actively Worked to Oust MAGA Republican Madison Cawthorn, Other America First Candidates

The Washington Post reported in September that McCarthy “worked” previously “to deny (Madison) Cawthorn a second term in office,” saying he had “lost my trust.”

Cawthorn had been endorsed by Trump at the time, but had accused members of Congress of using drugs and inviting him to an “orgy.”

The well-planned targeting by McCarthy didn’t simply focus on Madison Cawthorn. The House Republican leader also sought to keep other MAGA candidates out of Congress.

The Post wrote that Kevin McCarthy and his political machine were working to “systematically weed out GOP candidates” they felt might give him “trouble” as House Speaker.

It was also an effort to eliminate conservative candidates in districts where more moderate candidates were perceived to have a better chance of winning.

Said Before the Midterms GOP Would NOT Impeach Biden

McCarthy, just a couple of weeks before the midterm elections, took a motivating issue for many voters of impeaching President Biden and declared it would not happen.

In an interview with Punchbowl News, McCarthy admitted that should the GOP win back congressional control in the 2022 midterms, they would not pursue impeachment.

“I think the country doesn’t like impeachment used for political purposes at all,” said McCarthy. “If anyone ever rises to that occasion, you have to, but I think the country wants to heal and … start to see the system that actually works.”

He later lamented the fact that Democrats had sought the impeachment of Trump before he took office and suggested the GOP had to be better than that.

“You watch what the Democrats did – they all came out and said they would impeach before Trump was ever sworn in,” he said. “There wasn’t a purpose for it.”

If anything, that means they lowered the bar and that’s the level at which the GOP must fight back. If Trump were President and Democrats controlled the House, do you think they’d pump the breaks on impeachment and insist the country needs to heal?

Pretended He’d Pull Back on Aid to Ukraine

McCarthy announced in late October that when the GOP takes control of the House, Ukraine would no longer be the benefactor of a “blank check” from the United States government.

“I think people are gonna be sitting in a recession and they’re not going to write a blank check to Ukraine,” McCarthy said. “They just won’t do it. … It’s not a free blank check.”

About a week later, allies of the Republican lawmaker were furiously backpedaling on the statement.

“McCarthy was not saying, ‘We wouldn’t spend money.’ McCarthy was saying, ‘We’re gonna be accountable to the taxpayer for every dollar we spend,’” one lawmaker told CNN.

It was an effort, CNN said, to “soothe the House’s senior defense hawks.”

Which is a super-neat way to say he was talking out of both sides of his mouth.

The House will again convene at noon today with a fourth round of voting for Speaker of the House to be likely.

Trump has urged those in opposition to McCarthy’s speakership to “close the deal” and “take the victory.”

With this list of his behavior in recent memory, we’re not sure it would be a great victory.

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Swamp Rat Mitch McConnell Agrees With January 6 Committee on Trump Criminal Referral

Posted on by Rusty Weiss

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell seemingly celebrated the January 6 committee announcement of criminal referrals made against Donald Trump.

The highly partisan committee voted Monday to refer four criminal charges against Trump to the Biden Department of Justice over his alleged actions during the Capitol riot.

The panel suggested that President Biden’s DOJ investigate the former President for inciting insurrection, obstructing an official proceeding, conspiring to defraud the government, and conspiring to make a false statement.

McConnell still seemed pleased with the results, throwing in his lot with the Democrats and the liberal media.

“The entire nation knows who is responsible for that day,” he wrote in a statement following the news. “Beyond that, I don’t have any immediate observations.”

RELATED: Trump Slams RussiaGater Adam Schiff After He Claims January 6 Committee Will Charge Former President

Mitch McConnell Pleased With January 6 Committee’s Criminal Referrals Against Trump

Mitch McConnell, much like the Democrats, is pleased with the January 6 committee’s criminal referrals against former President Trump.

Mitch McConnell, much like the Democrats, believes there was an “insurrection” and that despite Trump urging protesters to make their voices heard “peacefully,” he is to blame.

Most Importantly, Mitch McConnell, much like the Democrats, views the Capitol riot as an opportunity to rid the nation of Trump once and for all.

According to a book titled, “This Will Not Pass,” Mitch was “exhilarated” that Trump had “totally discredited himself” just hours after the Capitol riot on January 6th.

He also took joy that Trump seemingly had ‘committed political suicide’ that day.

“I feel exhilarated by the fact that this fellow finally, totally discredited himself,” McConnell said. “He put a gun to his head and pulled the trigger. Couldn’t have happened at a better time.”

Who else gets “exhilarated” at the thought of Trump committing political suicide? Democrats and weepy eunuchs like Adam Kinzinger. How is Mitch McConnell any different?

RELATED: McConnell Blames Trump for Establishment Not Being Able to ‘Control’ GOP Primaries

Trump Responds

Donald Trump responded to the criminal referrals put forth by the January 6 committee on his Truth Social media platform. In one comment he noted the fact that the process of impeachment had already acquitted him of charges involving a so-called insurrection.

“The Fake charges made by the highly partisan Unselect Committee of January 6th have already been submitted, prosecuted, and tried in the form of Impeachment Hoax # 2,” he wrote. “I WON convincingly. Double Jeopardy anyone!”

“These folks don’t get it that when they come after me, people who love freedom rally around me,” Trump added. “It strengthens me.  What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger.”

In another comment, Trump mocked the committee as the “Democratic Bureau of Investigation.”

The DBI “are out to keep me from running for president because they know I’ll win and that this whole business of prosecuting me is just like impeachment was,” he said, “a partisan attempt to sideline me and the Republican Party.”

As for McConnell melding his statement with the narrative of the January 6 committee, Trump has had numerous choice words for the “Broken Old Crow” in the past.

Trump has repeatedly taken shots at Mitch McConnell ever since the Senate Minority leader vowed to be “done with” him. 

The former President described Mitch as an “absolute loser” who has been giving Democrats “everything they want” and pressed the GOP to oust the Republican leader.

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With his latest statement on the criminal referrals, McConnell once again gave Democrats everything they want. A soundbite and affirmation that the committee’s work wasn’t a sham.

The GOP needs to repeal and replace him from leadership.

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Democrats Introduce Legislation to Bar Trump From Ever Holding Public Office

Posted on by Rusty Weiss

Representative David Cicilline, backed by 40 other House Democrats, introduced legislation citing a Civil War-era provision in the 14th Amendment to bar Donald Trump from ever holding public office.

Cicilline put forth HR 9578 which seeks to deem Trump “ineligible to again hold the office of President of the United States or to hold any office, civil or military, under the United States.”

Forty Democrat co-sponsors have signed on to the bill. Oddly enough, only one original member of the Squad – Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) is a co-sponsor.

“Donald Trump very clearly engaged in an insurrection on January 6, 2021 with the intention of overturning the lawful and fair results of the 2020 election,” Cicilline said in a statement without evidence. “You don’t get to lead a government you tried to destroy.”

RELATED: Democrat Seeking to Use 14th Amendment to Bar Trump From Office

Democrats Want to Bar Trump From Holding Office by Comparing Him to Confederates

Cicilline sent out a letter to colleagues just a few weeks ago, outlining a bill and requesting co-sponsors for the measure that “would prevent Donald Trump from holding public office again under the Fourteenth Amendment.”

Surprised to see he didn’t track down outgoing Republican lawmakers Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney to join the effort.

What he did do, however, was utilize another useful GOP idiot for the Democrats – Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Cicilline used the Republican senator’s own words to suggest Trump was responsible for a small portion of his supporters – that he urged to protest ‘peacefully‘ – getting out of control, and thus fomenting an insurrection.

“Even Mitch McConnell admits that Trump bears responsibility,” Cicilline said, “saying on the Senate floor that ‘[t]here’s no question, none, that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day.'”

RELATED: Democrats Have A Back-Up Plan That Might Still Bar Trump From Running Again If Impeachment Fails

They Are Desperate

No question he is responsible, eh?

But there is a question as to how Trump’s speech equates to being liable for the actions of others. 

Trump was not even at the site of the riot and as such, could not be charged for actions engaged in at the Capitol.

Section 3 of the 14th Amendment is a rarely cited Civil War-era provision that bars individuals from holding office if they “have engaged in insurrection or rebellion” or “given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”

In other words, mostly high-ranking Confederates.

Trump was impeached in January 2021 on the charge of “incitement of insurrection,” but was ultimately acquitted by the Senate.

Acquitted. End of discussion. This thing would be laughed out of the courts in record time.

Not to mention the dangerous precedent such legislation would open the floodgates to. After all, Democrats themselves have objected to electoral proceedings in numerous past elections:

  • 15 Democrats objected to counting Florida’s electoral votes in 2000.
  • 31 Democrats voted in favor of rejecting electoral votes from Ohio in 2004.
  • 7 different Democrats objected 11 times to certifying the results of the 2016 presidential election.

With all of that, Democrats would have to schedule a vote on Cicilline’s bill before the legislative calendar comes to a close next week. With a GOP-controlled House set to take over in January, the 14th Amendment gambit seems likely to die.

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John Boehner Can’t Stop Crying as He Praises Nancy Pelosi During Her Portrait Unveiling

Posted on by Rusty Weiss

Former Republican House Speaker John Boehner struggled – unsuccessfully – to fight back his famous, frequently-appearing tears as he offered a glowing tribute to Nancy Pelosi at the unveiling of her official portrait at the Capitol.

And never has there been a more appropriate metaphor for the old-guard GOP’s relationship with their Democrat colleagues.

“My girls told me, ‘Tell the speaker how much we admire her,'” Boehner whimpered, his face contorting in an unsuccessful attempt to close the floodgates.

He then joked, “As if you couldn’t tell, my girls are Democrats.”

But the praise didn’t just come from his daughters, it came from Boehner himself.

“The younger generation today has a saying: ‘Game recognizes game,'” he praised. “The fact of the matter is no other speaker of the House in the modern era — Republican or Democrat — has wielded the gavel with such authority or with such consistent results.”

The clearly emotional and flustered Boehner’s comments were littered with mispronunciations and pauses as he tried to stop the urge to continue weeping.

RELATED: Cruz Fires Back At Boehner After His ‘Anatomically Impossible’ Insult

Boehner Crying as He Celebrates Pelosi

Pelosi’s tenure has been one of the most divisive and destructive efforts in the “modern era” and Boehner can only think to call her “incredibly effective” and “one tough cookie”?

That tough cookie has been crying and lying about an ‘insurrection’ on January 6th. She tore the nation apart and helped take focus off the incoming pandemic by pursuing an impeachment she once described as the “most divisive” path.

She has consistently caved to the fringe element of her party ever since the Squad was ushered in during the 2018 midterms. Pelosi forced the passage of Obamacare despite its unpopularity, famously saying, “We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it.”

Democrats lost 63 House seats later that year. It was the worst shellacking since 1938. Very, very effective, John.

Boehner wasn’t the only Republican in attendance at the unveiling of Pelosi’s comically over-sized Capitol portrait.

The New York Times reports that Kevin McCarthy, widely presumed to replace Pelosi as Speaker of the House, “sat silently” during the proceedings.

RELATED: John Boehner Calls Sean Hannity a ‘Right-Wing Idiot,’ Hannity Fires Back

Frequent Critic of Trump, Ted Cruz

John Boehner crying isn’t exactly new, but it’s an important reminder of the feckless leadership that allowed people like Pelosi and Barack Obama to run roughshod over the Constitution during their tenure.

Pelosi joked about the former Speaker being famously teary-eyed on a perpetual basis.

“I would have been a little disappointed if he didn’t get emotional,” she quipped.

And while he’s heaping praise on Nancy Pelosi, Boehner hasn’t always had the kindest words for staunch conservatives like Fox News host Sean Hannity, Senator Ted Cruz, or former President Donald Trump.

In a 2017 profile at Politico Boehner called Hannity “nuts” and said Americans were “ill-informed.”

He’s had a long-standing feud with Cruz (R-TX), going off-script in recording his memoir saying, “Oh, and Ted Cruz, go f*** yourself.”

That feud stemmed from accusations by Cruz in 2015 that blamed Boehner for helping Democrats fund the government, Planned Parenthood, and the Iran nuclear deal.

And, like Pelosi, Boehner naturally blamed Trump saying he “incited that bloody insurrection” at the Capitol.

Maybe, John, kick back with another red wine and shed some tears for what Pelosi and the Democrats have done to this country that led to anger over election integrity in the first place.

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Mitt Romney Comes Out Against Hunter Biden Investigation – ‘A Waste of Time’ – Trump Calls Him a ‘Pathetic Joke’

Posted on by Rusty Weiss

Senator Mitt Romney is voicing opposition to Republican investigations into Hunter Biden, describing such affairs as a “waste of time.”

Romney (R-UT) ran to his fellow faux conservatives at The Bulwark to make his position known.

The outlet, which described the younger Biden, currently identified by federal agents as having enough evidence to charge him with multiple crimes, as little more than a “political bugbear,” notes that Romney is the only GOP lawmaker to break with his party on the matter.

“I think it’s really hard to know what the politics of a course of action might be in this day and age, to know where our party stands, what our base wants, what independent voters want,” Romney said.

“But I think you have to do what you think is right and I think the American people want us to tackle some of the big challenges we have—immigration, inflation, and so forth—and the other things that divert from those priorities I think are a waste of time.”

RELATED: Trump Slams ‘RINO’ Romney, Shares Message Claiming Mitt ‘Lost His Mind’

Romney: Hunter Biden Investigation a Waste of Time, January 6 Committee Not so Much

While it isn’t surprising that Mitt Romney would break with Republicans and jump to the defense of an embattled Democrat President and his scandal-plagued son, his reasoning is a bit of a shock.

A “waste of time”?

This is the same man who voted in favor of establishing the January 6 committee to investigate the riot at the Capitol. Has there been a more colossal waste of taxpayer money than that investigation, Mitt?

Romney, of course, also defended Nancy Pelosi after she initiated the first impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump, something even Democrat Representative Jerry Nadler (NY) called “unconstitutional.”

“She’s able to do what she feels is right. That’s up to her,” Romney said in defending Pelosi at the time. “At this stage, the process is to continue to gather information but clearly what we’ve seen from the transcript itself is deeply troubling.”

Much like the January 6 committee, the first impeachment trial was also a ‘waste of time.’

Romney later voted to convict Trump of inciting an insurrection during the second impeachment trial.

RELATED: Mitt Romney Indicates He’ll Vote With Dems to Protect Hunter Biden From Subpoena

Voiced Concern About Going After Hunter Before

Romney has been seemingly protecting Hunter Biden from being dragged into investigatory avenues before.

In March of 2020, the Washington Post reported that Romney was poised to join Democrats and vote to squash a subpoena related to Hunter Biden’s work with the Ukrainian energy company, Burisma Holdings.

Though he later relented, his reasoning sounded awfully familiar.

“I would prefer that investigations are done by an independent, non-political body,” he claimed. “There’s no question the appearance is not good.”

Romney went on to tell reporters that the investigation “appears political.”

“I think people are tired of these kinds of political investigations.”

Romney did later join Republicans in voting in favor of the subpoena.

In a weekend comment on a separate matter, Trump described Romney as a “pathetic joke.”

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Liberal TIME Magazine Redefines ‘Election Denier’ to Protect New Election-Denying Democrat Leader Hakeem Jeffries

Posted on by Remso Martinez

In an attempt to shield Democrats from the “election denier” moniker, TIME Magazine lunged at the opportunity to take one for the team by penning a piece which asserts that new House Democrats leader Hakeem Jeffries has certainly denied the outcomes of elections in the past, but in no way does that make him an election denier.

No, being an “election denier” is exclusively reserved for conservatives and those who contested the voting integrity of the 2020 election – and that election alone.

What sparked this bout of justified, liberal mental gymnastics was a recent tweet from the RNC, which was posted when it was confirmed that far-left Congressman Hakeem Jeffries would be succeeding Rep. Nancy Pelosi as House Democrat Leader.

“BREAKING: Election Denier Hakeem Jeffries was just elected as the new leader of the House Democrats,” the RNC had posted on top of screenshots from as far back as 2018 in which Jeffries repeatedly denies elections.

RELATED: Meet Hakeem Jeffries, the Democrats’ Far-Left Choice to Succeed Pelosi as House Leader

Election Denying Juxtaposition

TIME wrote, “In tweets, news interviews, and House hearings, Jeffries called to question the legitimacy of Trump’s election because of Russia’s attempts to interfere in the 2016 race, and accused Trump of colluding with Russia to win the election.”

They also added that the special council investigation in 2019 “did not find sufficient evidence that Trump or his campaign conspired with Russia.”

Right there, the author Jasmine Aguilera doesn’t deny that Jeffries himself denied that Trump was the lawfully elected president, going as far as to repeatedly call him “illegitimate.” With that fact stated, you’d think it would be hard to make a case that someone isn’t an election denier when you’ve already firmly shown that they have denied election results.

This is where things get stupid.

Aguilera argues that since the 2020 election, the term “election denier” doesn’t just mean someone who denies elections.

No, she states that the “phrase has come to be associated with Republicans who claim the 2020 election was stolen from Trump, assert without evidence there was fraud in 2020 voting, and cast doubt on secure voting systems—claims that lead to the deadly January 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol.”

Well, of course. That’s a fait accompli: the liberal media insists that it is that way, and flood the airwaves with it. Jeffries can’t be an election denier because he’s a Democrat. The term’s definition magically changed and we all have to accept that now.

“Calling Jeffries an ‘election denier’,” she continues, “is misleading and conflates different issues.” No, actually, it isn’t misleading at all.

You don’t get to just go around changing the definitions when they become inconvenient – or in this case, downright embarrassing. This used to be an accepted fact of life, but now, we go by the rules of 1984 where words can change meaning in order to prop up the Party.

Aguilera tries to add emphasis to this point by quoting Rachel Orey, an associate director of the Elections Project at the Bipartisan Policy Center, who had stated that “Casting unfounded doubt on the outcome of an election is irresponsible when either party does it, but I think it’s important to remember that the culture around elections was quite different before 2020.”

Once again, an election denier is a denier of elections, except when Democrats deny elections. Confused? I certainly am, especially with Orey’s assertion that before 2020 things were just magically different.

Am I the only one that remembers four years of Democrats calling for Trump’s impeachment based solely on the debunked Russian collusion hoax?

I’m certainly old enough to remember that Democrats denying the outcomes of elections didn’t start (and sadly won’t end) with Donald Trump.

Democrats – including former Presidents – have denied every single election Republicans have won since the year 2000.

RELATED: Trump and Melania Reportedly ‘Just Sick’ Over January 6 Defendants, Would Issue Pardons

A Democrat Tradition

Denying elections is as much a part of the Democratic Party as slavery and taxpayer funding of abortion. This isn’t ancient history either.

Former Vice President Al Gore, Presidents Jimmy Carter, Joe Biden, Bill Clinton, former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, and former Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz were all vocal election deniers in 2000, claiming that Republican George W. Bush had stolen the election.

In 2004, Democrats attempted to do the exact same thing again, with Hillary Clinton, Howard Dean, Shiela Jackson Lee and even Democrat nominee John Kerry attempting to paint the 2004 election results as illegitimate. 

And of course, we all know about Democrats denying the 2016 election.

This dangerous attempt by TIME to allow a writer to assert that we can change very basic definitions based on a very open political narrative isn’t just dangerous to public discourse, it’s an outright threat to our democracy.

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Weak McCarthy Might Lead to First ‘Floor Fight’ for House Speaker in 100 Years

Posted on by Becky Noble

The first order of business when the new Republican-led House convenes in January will be to elect a new Speaker. After the midterm election, McCarthy was chosen by Republicans for the GOP nomination for Speaker.

But that doesn’t mean all Republicans are on board – and the GOP’s margin in the House is razor-thin after the “Red Wave” turned into a Red Dribble. Meaning, McCarthy’s next hurdle will be to secure the 218 votes needed to become Speaker.

With Republicans holding a slim majority in the House, McCarthy can ill afford any defectors. No more than four, to be precise, if he can’t draw any Democrats to his side.

But a lonely few conservatives have already stated their opposition, vowing not to vote for McCarthy. Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), one of the leaders of the House Freedom Caucus, said:

“He doesn’t have the votes. Some of the stages of grief include denial, so there will be some denial and then there’ll be the stage of bargaining where people are trying to figure out … will there be some kind of consensus candidate that emerges.”

The question might be, are House Republicans prepared for a floor fight that hasn’t happened in 100 years? 

RELATED: Democrat Adam Schiff Suggests Complying With Subpoenas is Optional, Now

A New Era

Whether the Speaker of the House ends up being Kevin McCarthy or someone else, chances are things will be very different from the Pelosi era. After decades in the House, Nancy Pelosi refined her skills as a master manipulator of votes when she needed them.

Another possible wrench thrown in the works for McCarthy, although not a likely one, has former President Donald Trump continuing to live rent free in the collective minds of Democrats.

During an appearance on CBS’ “Face the Nation” earlier this month, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) suggested to host Margaret Brennan that certain “far right” House members may vote for Trump to be Speaker.

Raskin stated, “It’s a real problem for Kevin McCarthy now, because there are certain pro-Trumpists within his House caucus who refuse to accept that he’s really with Trump and they want to get rid of McCarthy. They might just vote for Trump.”

Per the Constitution, the Speaker of the House is not required to be a member of Congress, but the chances of Trump becoming Speaker are somewhere between zero and zero.

RELATED: Classic 2014 Trump Tweet Highlights Biden’s 2022 Foreign Policy Failure

Not Everyone is On Board

Currently, five GOP House members have stated they will not support Kevin McCarthy’s bid for Speaker. If Republicans end up with 222 seats, and all 435 members vote, McCarthy can only afford to lose four votes.

In short, if McCarthy can’t get the votes needed, the House will run as many elections as it takes until some candidate passes the mark. The last time that happened was in 1923.

One Republican House member actively opposing McCarthy is Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL). He has laid the less-than-stellar GOP midterm performance at the feet of McCarthy and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

According to the Washington Examiner, Gaetz has been making phone calls to colleagues to convince them of another choice. Gaetz said in a statement, “Just as I have done after every election, you can count on me having conversations with my colleagues on matters of policy, politics, and leadership.”

McCarthy has also appeared to go soft on any possible impeachment inquiries, of President Joe Biden or any other member of the Biden’s cabinet. Prior to the election, McCarthy was interviewed by CNN’s Melanie Zanona, who asked him if “impeachment is on the table.”

McCarthy’s response was to pour cold water on it. 

Zanona pressed McCarthy and said, “Some of your members already calling for impeachment. What do you say to those members?”

It was here that McCarthy may have given a squishy preview of things to come and replied:

“One thing I’ve known about the land of America, it’s the rule of law. And we will hold the rule of law and we won’t play politics with this. We’ll never use impeachment for political purposes. That doesn’t mean if something rises to the occasion it would not be used. At any other time, it wouldn’t matter if it’s Democrats or Republicans. But the idea of what Democrats have done, what Adam Schiff has done, is treacherous… We’re better than that. We need to get our nation back on track. That’s what the Commitment to America does.”

Matt Gaetz summed up his assessment of McCarthy, saying, “House Republicans need a leader with credibility across every spectrum of the GOP conference in order to be a capable fighting force for the American people. That person is not Kevin McCarthy.” 

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The Upward ‘McFailures’ of the Republican Party

Posted on by Becky Noble

For most people, if you screw up on the job, there are consequences. You get written up, hauled into an office for “counseling,” or if it is bad enough, you get shown the door. But not in Washington D.C., and not in the Republican Party.

Of course, it’s something that happens all over Washington, why else would people be embedded there for years on end? But for these purposes, it is the Republican Party that is rewarding bad behavior.

On Tuesday, Republicans “officially” won control of the House of Representatives. And with that, they began to choose their leadership. These are the same people who just finished running for office again on the notion that there needs to be leadership change in Washington.

See if you can pick out the “change.”

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was chosen by his GOP colleagues tp be the next Speaker of the House. (The full House will have to vote in January, but that’s besides the point.)

He doesn’t even have the gavel in hand yet and he’s already squishy. 

RELATED: Trump Contrasts Himself From GOP Rivals, Warns Biden Is Leading US To ‘Brink Of Nuclear War’

Incompetent? Get A Promotion

It was Democrats who decided to weaponize impeachment and use it against former President Donald Trump for a phone call made to Ukranian President Zelensky.

With far more egregious events the fault of Joe Biden’s negligence or incompetence, Republicans are ready to move.

Not McCarthy. In an October interview with Punchbowl News, he stated, “I think the country doesn’t like impeachment used for political purposes at all. If anyone ever rises to that occasion, you have to, but I think the country wants to heal and … start to see the system that actually works.”

McCarthy was also asked if he thought Joe Biden or anyone in his administration might hit the bar of impeachment. His answer, “I don’t see it before me right now.” This is the guy with a picture of Ronald Reagan in his office. 

The new House Majority Whip will be Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN). If there is anyone who should be looked at hard as to why Republicans did not pick up more seats in the midterm election, it should be Tom Emmer.

Emmer is the former head of the National Republican Congressional Committee – the Republican Party’s campaign arm for the House. If there was going to be a “red wave,” Emmer was the guy whose job it was to deliver such a wave.

Instead, Emmer delivered a red puddle. But there are no worries for Emmer. In fact, he was promoted to Majority Whip in the GOP.

RELATED: Biden Requests Lawmakers Ram Through $37 Billion For Ukraine Before New Congress Is Sworn In

Still More Failing Up

There is no more better argument for both change in leadership and failing up than Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. The Senate candidates he doomed to failure in this midterm election amounts to nothing short of criminal negligence.

Mitch McConnell does not like candidates that are endorsed by Donald Trump, and he does not like candidates who, more than likely, would not vote for him to be the Senate Leader. What he likes is his own power.

The Senate Leadership Fund, the McConnell-affiliated PAC, pulled millions of dollars from GOP Senate candidates Blake Masters in Arizona, and Don Bolduc in New Hampsire, both winnable races.

Instead, they put money into reliable McConnell backer Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s reelection campaign. 

The problem is, in Alaska, the top two candidates are both Republicans. Instead of beating Democrats, the GOP spent money to beat… a Republican.

Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel will also more than likely stay on, if the rumors of her support are true.

McDaniel recently told CNN that Republicans would “reach across the aisle” to work with Democrats. She told CNN’s Dana Bash, “If we win back the House and the Senate, it’s the American people saying to Joe Biden, ‘We want you to work on behalf of us and we want you to work across the aisle and solve the problems that we are dealing with.”‘

So we have the same people in leadership. The results of the midterm election are proof that they are unable to get the job done, and they are rewarded for it by keeping their leadership positions.

See the change yet?

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RussiaGate Democrat Claims Republicans Could Nominate Trump As Next House Speaker

Posted on by Rusty Weiss

Democrat Jamie Raskin, of RussiaGate and impeachment fame, is warning his House colleagues that the GOP could move to nominate former President Donald Trump as the next Speaker should Republicans ultimately prevail in taking back the House.

Raskin suggested the idea has been brought up “repeatedly” in the Republican caucus during an appearance with “Face the Nation” Sunday.

He made the comments after being presented with a CBS report which claims roughly 155 Republican House members who won their races this past week are so-called ‘election deniers.’

“That’s a statement about the political contamination of the GOP by Donald Trump,” said Raskin, who objected to the electoral vote count during the 2016 election, making him by media definition an ‘election denier.’

Raskin continued, arguing that “[House Minority Leader] Kevin McCarthy and other leaders within the Republican Party are now required to make a decision about whether they’re going to try to rid themselves of Donald Trump and his toxic influence on the party.”

“One potential candidate whose name has been floated is Donald Trump himself, because the Speaker of the House does not have to be a member of the House,” Raskin then claimed.

“And they are talking about putting Trump right there.”

RELATED: Report: ‘Knives Are Out’ For Kevin McCarthy After GOP’s Lackluster Midterm Performance

Could Trump Really Be the Next Speaker of the House?

CBS host Margaret Brennan wasn’t buying into Raskin’s paranoia that Trump could become the next Speaker of the House.

“That’s not a real option, though,” she replied.

But to Raskin, it’s as real as the threat of the next insurrection and the fall of democracy, by God.

“They talk about it repeatedly,” Raskin claimed. “And if Trump decided he wanted to do it, it would pose a profound problem for their party because they refuse to do the right thing.”

RELATED: Gaetz Says He Will Move To Nominate Trump As Next House Speaker If GOP Wins In 2022

Raskin’s Claim is a Bit Far-Fetched

Despite Raskin’s claim, there is scant evidence of Republicans talking about making Trump the next Speaker of the House. And there is no evidence they are stating that intention “repeatedly.”

So Brennan was right to challenge the January 6 committee member.

The only evidence I can locate of such a claim was back in December of 2021 when MAGA Representative Matt Gaetz suggested he would nominate Trump if Republicans were to win back the House.

Further, we know that the GOP is afraid of their own shadow, and would never do something as amazing as nominating Trump for Speaker.

Gaetz tends to state things that are sure to send leftists and the media over the edge sometimes.

While the move is possible, it seems rather unlikely that former President Trump would have any interest in filling the role currently held by Nancy Pelosi.

The position has never been filled by anyone outside the chamber, though the Constitution does not specifically state that the Speaker must be a House member. Anyone chosen by the House can serve as Speaker.

A representative for Trump has said he has “zero desire” to be named Speaker despite previous comments suggesting he’d look into it.

While it is still possible for the GOP to gain control of the House when all of the slowest states catch up on their vote discovery counting, McCarthy’s grip on becoming House Speaker has become tenuous due to the lesser-than-expected margin Republicans will have.

The Political Insider reported last week that the “knives are out” for McCarthy following his party’s lackluster performance in the midterms.

The fact that Raskin took such a notion to mean that Trump could be installed as the House speaker shows two things – Democrats are obsessed with using the former President as a boogeyman because it worked in the last election cycle, and he continues to live rent free in their heads.

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MAGA Rep Matt Gaetz Torches ‘McFailures’ McConnell and McCarthy for Midterm Results

Posted on by Rusty Weiss

MAGA Representative Matt Gaetz criticized Republican House leader Kevin McCarthy, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel following a flaccid performance by GOP candidates in the 2022 midterm elections.

As of press time Thursday, the balance of power in Congress still remains undecided, with too many races yet to be called.

The House appears likely headed to a shift of power to the Republicans while the Senate will potentially be decided with a Georgia runoff in December.

But the margins in the House and questions lingering in the Senate are disappointing when a massive ‘red wave’ had been predicted. 

Gaetz took to social media to label McCarthy, McConnell, and McDaniel a bunch of “McFailure(s).”

RELATED: Report: ‘Knives Are Out’ For Kevin McCarthy After GOP’s Lackluster Midterm Performance

Matt Gaetz Guns For Kevin McCarthy

Matt Gaetz is taking out his frustration predominantly on Kevin McCarthy.

The House races shouldn’t have come down to the ones too close to call. This was supposed to be a slaughter at the ballot box, a lead so comfortable things couldn’t possibly be left to other mitigating factors.

This is the equivalent of a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament having to go into overtime against the #16 seed. And, just as a coach’s career would be reevaluated after such a performance, so should McCarthy’s.

The Washington Examiner reports that Matt Gaetz has been making phone calls to encourage colleagues to turn their back on Kevin McCarthy’s bid to be the next House Speaker.

“Just as I have done after every election, you can count on me having conversations with my colleagues on matters of policy, politics, and leadership,” he said in a statement.

Fox News White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich reported that a GOP source earlier this week had warned that the “knives are out” for McCarthy after the midterm performance.

RELATED: Matt Gaetz Warns There Are Republican Squishes Already Trying to Shut Down Biden Impeachment

Failure of Leadership

Matt Gaetz was already targeting weak Republicans, warning that there were some lawmakers voicing opposition to impeaching President Biden should the GOP take back the House.

“There are current members of the Republican majority, people who will be in the next Congress, who are arguing very, very fervently that they will oppose the use of the ‘I’ word, impeachment, in any context for any official in the Biden administration,” he said.

“And I believe that would totally misunderstand the mandate that the American people are giving us.”

That opposition is sure to grow now that the President has escaped relatively unscathed following the Republican election failure.

Likewise, McDaniel, the niece of Senator Mitt Romney, declared that Republicans will reach across the aisle and work with President Biden following the midterms.

“Would Republicans be willing to do the same and not just be a roadblock for him?” she was asked during a CNN interview.

“We have to,” McDaniel replied. “We have to work on behalf of the American people.”

She won’t have to worry about that too much, as President Biden has declared that he plans to change nothing about the way he’s governed based on the midterm results.

Meaning he’ll continue to rule by fiat, issuing executive orders and doing his best to circumvent Republicans in Congress. And he’ll get away with it too, so long as the McFailures are running the show.

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