Former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich said on Fox News on Friday that Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz “unleashed the devil” after he ousted former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy last year.
Mr. Gingrich appeared on “The Ingraham Angle” to talk about why House Republicans continue to secede, leaving the party with only a slim majority. Fox host Laura Ingraham asked the former House speaker what she would respond to members of her party leaving the party if she were still in power. (Related article: House Republicans heading for withdrawal, leaving the Republican Party with a razor-thin majority)
“Well, first of all, I think we need to take a completely different approach,” Gingrich responded. “We should not underestimate how detrimental Matt Gaetz’s actions were to the entire system. He unleashed his demons, went after someone trying to raise $480 million, and won a seat in three consecutive elections. , and forced Kevin McCarthy out. From that point on, it was a disaster.”
“I don’t blame Johnson. I think Speaker Johnson has a virtually unplayable hand, and I think some people are making it even worse,” he said. continued. “This is the best argument I’ve ever seen for why we should not only elect Donald Trump, but elect a very large majority with him. I had far more ability than Johnson to run the House of Commons because I had a large enough majority when I was in the House of Commons that I could govern with five or ten crazy people. does not have a majority of votes.”
“The reality is that there are eight, 10, 12 people who wake up every morning and vote ‘no.’ The truth is, they don’t even know what they’re voting for. Sometimes all they know is that today I’m going to say no. So he doesn’t actually have a majority at all. He has to decide that sooner or later he’s going to find that his bill has gotten even worse since McCarthy was gone. Democrats have more control. The hardliners on the right are doing nothing but making things worse. The current Freedom Caucus is a disaster from a public policy perspective. “Do you think your job in life is to sit in the grandstands and complain while you get run over by the other team? They’re doing a great job,” Gingrich said.
Gaetz had filed a motion to remove McCarthy because he accepted Democratic support, which reportedly violated agreements with some Republicans and the former speaker of the House. Following a vote in the House the next day, eight Democrats and Republicans united to expel McCarthy from office.
McCarthy said he “doesn’t regret choosing governing over discontent” and said he doesn’t regret negotiating with Democrats, but the former House speaker left a vacant seat in Congress in December and left politics behind. announced that he would be retiring.
