Rep. Matt Gaetz: It's Either McCarthy in a 'Straitjacket' — or Jim Jordan As a 'Trusted' Speaker

(CNSNews.com) – “There’s two potential scenarios here,” said Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) Thursday night, after Rep. Kevin McCarthy failed, in an eleventh round of voting, to become House Speaker, the job he’s been eyeing for years.

A twelfth round will happen later today, with little expectation of a different outcome.

Gaetz has nominated Donald John Trump for the job, knowing it won’t happen.

On Thursday night, Gaetz told Fox News that the two scenarios he sees are Kevin McCarthy as a speaker with little power; or a trusted conservative, such as Jim Jordan, as speaker.

“Look, If Kevin McCarthy got out of this race, and Jim Jordan would get into it — that’s my belief — and I believe Jim Jordan would win.

“I think he would invigorate our movement. I think he’s broadly trusted in every corner of the Republican Party and with a lot of our donors and supporters and activists. 

“That’s the type of option if Kevin McCarthy bows out. If Kevin McCarthy doesn’t bow out, then he will have to live the entirety of his speakership in a straitjacket constructed by these rules that we’re working on now.”

Host Laura Ingraham asked Gaetz, “So you prefer a speaker with a straitjacket than one who you believe is just a spend-o-rama?” 

“Well, I prefer a straitjacket if it’s Kevin McCarthy,” Gaetz said:

“If it was a Jim Jordan, we certainly wouldn’t need that, because we trust Jim Jordan. We have zero trust in Kevin McCarthy. 

“And there’s just a large body of work to evaluate. His continuous voting for big spending bills, his support of amnesty in the past, his refusal to join us in trying to break up big tech. This is someone whose compass is like a wet finger in the wind.” 

McCarthy: ‘It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish’

McCarthy, surrounded at the Capitol Thursday night by a gaggle of reporters, said he’s not putting “any time line” on his run for House speaker, and he said there has been some “progress” in talks with the 20 or so conservatives who have refused to vote for him:

McCarthy also said the rule changes demanded by conservatives will not make him a weaker speaker:

“The entire conference is going to have to learn how to work together,” McCarthy said. “So it’s better that we go through this process right now, so we can achieve the things that we want to achieve for the American public, what our commitment was.

“So if this takes a little longer, and it doesn’t meet your deadline, that’s okay, because it’s not how you start; it’s how you finish. And if we finish well, we’ll be very successful,” McCarthy said.

From CNSNews - READ ORIGINAL

Some media, including videos, may only be available to view at the original.