Fox News anchor Griff Jenkins pressed Republican Virginia Rep. Bob Good Monday on who in his party should step up as House Speaker.
Good has repeatedly been opposed to voting in favor of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California to serve as Speaker of the House, and vowed Monday to vote against him during the Jan. 3 House vote. McCarthy earned the Republican nomination for the role in a 188-31 vote in November.
Good told Jenkins that the Minority leader is “part of the swamp cartel” due to his involvement in passing the $1.66 trillion omnibus bill and alleged refusal to tackle the agenda of President Joe Biden’s administration and Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Jenkins asked the representative who should assume the role as Speaker, if not McCarthy. Good assured that an alternative choice will be placed on the second ballot, which occurs if a candidate does not secure a majority in an initial vote.
“What we’ll do is we’ll block Kevin, I expect the fifteen members will vote against him on the first ballot tomorrow, that will vote for [Republican Arizona Rep.] Andy Biggs. But then I think we’ll see on the second ballot, an increasing number of members voting for a true candidate who can represent a conservative sector of the conference, can motivate the base, to aspire Republicans across the country, get to 218 votes, bring our conference together to fight against the radical Democrat agenda.”
“Who is that name? Here, we are in the eleventh hour with no name. Give me a name,” Jenkins said. “It’s not Andy Biggs. Andy Biggs isn’t gonna win.” (RELATED: Andy Biggs Says GOP Needs To ‘Make A Change’ And Drop Kevin McCarthy As A Speaker Nominee)
“We’ve got to resist for a few more hours and I have resisted for the last several weeks because, as you know, we would put forth a name right now. Over the last few weeks, that person would have suffered attacks and retaliation—”
“You don’t have a name,” he said.
“Griff, you’ll see that name tomorrow on the second ballot,” Good said.
The Fox News host then asked if Good will “accept responsibility” for “damage” done to the Republican conference by voting against the party’s current leader. The representative said the same people who have repeatedly criticized McCarthy’s leadership now want members of the party to “surrender” to the status quo.
Jenkins continued to press Good on who McCarthy’s opponents will place on the second ballot.
“But who is he? Could you envision Steve Scalise elevating for majority leader?” he asked.
“We’ll figure that out tomorrow on the second ballot, Griff,” Good repeated.
The representative argued that McCarthy’s leadership will lead to massive spending and will refuse to fight for “true conservative principles.” He vowed to put forth a “true challenged candidate” on the second ballot to run against the leader. Jenkins argued that most Republicans want to address these issues and asked if this opposition to McCarthy is “personal.”
“That’s just silly, we’re doing what we know is right for the country, what our constituents want us to do,” he responded. “We’re doing this for those who voted for us to bring true change to Washington, fight against the Biden-Schumer agenda, and we’re gonna do everything to make sure that we have a strong conservative leader who represents the conservative voters across the country who sent us to Washington.”
Republicans who oppose McCarthy’s nomination included Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, Biggs—who challenged him for the nomination—and Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina.