'Not a good look': Biden speaks on GOP’s 'really embarrassing' failure to unify around speaker vote

04 January 2023

President Joe Biden has weighed in with his thoughts on the Republican party’s failure to elect a new speaker of the U.S. House, reports U.S. News & World Report.

For the first time in one hundred years, a U.S. House speaker was not confirmed after the first vote.

The GOP’s current divided vote over California Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s potential second term as speaker is “not a good look” for the country, Biden said as he departed the White House for a bipartisan meeting with Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY).

“I hope they get their act together,” the president said. “The rest of the world is watching.”

Biden said he has “no idea” who will get the vote, but as far as he’s concerned, it’s “not his problem.”

The GOP members who staunchly oppose McCarthy’s bid for speakership are the more hard-right members of the party, including Reps. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) and Matt Gaetz (R-FL).

Following a heated GOP member session earlier this week, Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) referred to members who voted against McCarthy as “enemies” after he previously said they “act like children.”

The conservative members settled on nominating Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) for Speaker, but he is now in support of McCarthy. Regarding the debate, CNN reported that Jordan said, “the differences among Republican lawmakers 'pale in comparison' to the differences between Republicans and Democrats.”

The members will reconvene this week to cast their ballot again; the party cannot proceed with congressional sessions until a speaker is determined.

“I just think it’s really embarrassing it’s taking so long,” Biden said.

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