'They look like idiots:' Fox News contributor excoriates 'disorganized' Republicans over speakership fiasco

05 January 2023

Moments after United States House of Representatives Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-California) lost a tenth round of voting in his bid to become speaker of the lower chamber on Thursday afternoon, former President George W. Bush's White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer tore into the Republican Party's right-wing faction for holding Congress hostage and predicted that the GOP may be unable to govern if and when a speaker is ultimately chosen.

Fleischer also noted that Democrats, who unanimously nominated Congressman and House Democratic Caucus Chair Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) for the speakership, are demonstrating that they have the 'organization' to lead.

Fleischer, however, is but one of the many conservative pundits whose frustration with Republican infighting is palpable.

Host Sandra Smith initiated the conversation:

Ari Fleisher is with us right now John, Fox News contributor and former White House press secretary. Ari, thank you very much for joining us. You just heard the conversation we were having with the congressman there, obviously, some building frustration as it appears McCarthy has now lost the seventh speaker vote. Please weigh in.

Fleischer was unabashedly blunt:

I'll spare no words. They all look like idiots. And that's how they are acting. And let me make something plain about what the future is for House Republicans over the next two years. If they cannot achieve unity, if they cannot act like a team, why are they there? There is no purpose in serving in government if you cannot at the end of the day organize yourselves and act like a team. When you have a five-vote majority and this is how you're going to spend the most important vote that you begin with, you are squandering the small majority that you have and it's only going to get worse. Why would anybody think after that this fight they are going to be able to unify as a Republican team on any other type of ideological fight or conservative fight? They won't. This is the problem when you have a minority that will not accept the will of the majority. There is no team in the House Republican caucus right now and that is killing them all.

Anchor John Roberts followed up:

Well, speak if you would Ari to the arguments that are being made by people like [Representatives] Scott Perry [Texas], and Byron Donalds [Florida], and others, that, look, there's no need for a coronation here, the first day of the new Congress, you can go through a process like this for a few days without derailing the work of government, that they want to get it right and wanna make sure that there's not a return to the bad old days of profligate spending and ignoring the will of the American voter? What do you say to that argument?

Fleischer doubled down, arguing that the GOP has effectively blown itself up:

Well, I agree with them that this is not a crisis. This is a leadership fight in the House of Representatives. I mean, even though it's not a crisis, you can still make yourself look like an idiot. And that's what they're doing. And you can still send every signal possible about the future. Look, the Democrats are so much more capable than the Republicans in the House about acting as a team. The Democrats are the party that is organized. The Republicans are the party that is disorganized. And I don't see any outcome here that is gonna lead to a future organization. I see it leading to future fractures and divisions and fighting. That's the problem that the Republicans have right now – that they cannot act like a team.

Watch below via Media Matters for America or at this link.

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