MSNBC host Jonathan Capehart suggested Monday that the process of Republican California Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s speakership is a “continuation” of the January 6 “insurrection.”
Capehart invited Democratic Pennsylvania Rep. Madeleine Dean to discuss the two-year anniversary of the Capitol riot. Dean called it “chilling” that Republican Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz nominated and voted for former President Donald Trump to be speaker of the House on Jan. 6, 2023.
“I’ve not been shy about saying that McCarthy’s protracted fight over the speaker’s gavel with members of his own party was a continuation of that insurrection. Am I wrong? Am I going too far?” Capehart said.
WATCH:
“No, you’re not going too far,” Dean replied. “It absolutely is proof how he [McCarthy] has failed. He had a chance to lead his conference right after January 6. He stood and said that the president was responsible and he then turned to jello and he couldn’t stay with that. I have to tell you, as we were sitting there, I had so many texts from friends back home because so much was on the line, not just the circus of the Republican Party.” (RELATED: ‘At Least He’s Doing It’: CNN’s Dana Bash Commends Trump For Encouraging 20 Republicans To Elect McCarthy)
McCarthy became the 55th speaker of the House early Saturday on the 15th ballot after five of his most vocal opponents voted “present.” He vowed in his speech to crack down on the FBI and CIA by opening “church-style” investigations into the alleged past abuses and repealing President Joe Biden’s administration’s addition of 87,000 agents to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Trump endorsed McCarthy for speaker in December following his nomination, which spurred Gaetz to criticize the former president’s support.