CNN host Jake Tapper claimed Tuesday that Senate Republicans would not be “able to legislate” due to a “gang of flying monkeys” led by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California.
“The reason that Senate Republicans are coming into this deal with the devil in their view is because they look at Kevin McCarthy and his gang of flying monkeys,” Tapper told a panel of guests. “They’re not going to be able to legislate.” (RELATED: ‘Making Concessions To Their Chaos Caucus’: MSNBC Panel Predicts McCarthy Won’t ‘Survive’ As Speaker)
McCarthy backed 13 conservatives who threatened to scuttle legislative priorities of any Republican senators who help Senate Democrats pass a $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill, saying that as speaker, the bills would be “dead on arrival.”
McCarthy won the House Republican Conference’s nomination to be speaker November, but will need 218 votes to become Speaker of the House. At least five Republicans have said they will not back McCarthy for speaker, prompting former President Donald Trump to warn they were “playing a very dangerous game.”
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Republican Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona launched an unsuccessful challenge to McCarthy for the speakership, losing by a 188-31 vote on Nov. 15. Biggs announced Dec. 6 that he would still run for the post in spite of McCarthy being the Republican nominee.
Critics ripped McCarthy and other Republican leaders following midterm elections where the GOP underperformed expectations for a nation-wide “red wave,” with notable losses including former NFL running back Herschel Walker in Georgia, Dr. Mehmet Oz to Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and retired general Don Bolduc, who failed to unseat Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire.
Tapper also discussed the feud between Republican Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Lauren Boebert of Colorado, during which Boebert took aim at some of Greene’s past comments.
McCarthy did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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