Republican Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs said Wednesday that the most qualified candidate for House speaker is someone who does not want the position.
Biggs, who challenged McCarthy for the role, took this jab at McCarthy who had been unsuccessful in securing the gavel after four ballots. After losing to the Speaker-designate on the first ballot, the Arizona Republican supported Republican Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan and Byron Donalds of Florida.
“George Washington didn’t want to become President. George Washington didn’t want to attend the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention. He eventually changed his mind on both. Perhaps the best person for House Speaker isn’t someone who wants it so badly,” Biggs said.
George Washington didn’t want to become President.
George Washington didn’t want to attend the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention.
He eventually changed his mind on both.
Perhaps the best person for House Speaker isn’t someone who wants it so badly.
— Rep Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) January 4, 2023
Republican Reps. Matt Gaetz of Florida and Chip Roy of Texas nominated Jordan to challenge McCarthy on the second and third ballots. Jordan nominated and voted in support of McCarthy, despite being on the ballot. (RELATED: ‘We’re Not That Far Away’: McCarthy Downplays Opposition To His Leadership Role)
“The differences we may have, the differences between Joyce and Jordan or Biggs and Bacon, they pale in comparison to the differences between us and the left which now, unfortunately, controls the other party,” Jordan said in a floor speech. “I came in with Kevin. We came in the same time 16 years ago. We haven’t always agreed on everything. But I like his fight, I like his tenacity. I remember Kevin told me, actually wrote about this in a book. I remember Kevin told me, the toughest times in life are when you get knocked down. The question is, ‘Can you come back?’ and I have always seen him be able to do that.”
Republican Reps. Roy and Lauren Boebert of Colorado nominated Donalds, who shifted his support for McCarthy to Jordan on the third ballot. Donalds garnered the support of his 19 Republican colleagues who opposed McCarthy’s leadership, plus his vote for himself in the fourth round.
McCarthy, who secured the nomination for speaker in November, continued to express optimism that he will be handed the gavel in the upcoming ballots.