“‘All across the country, Republican voters continue to tell me and other members of Congress and candidates that they don’t support Kevin McCarthy, because he’s not a true conservative, and they want someone who will fight.’”
— GOP Rep. Bob Good of Virginia
That line above came from Republican Rep. Bob Good of Virginia, who is among the House Freedom Caucus members saying they’re opposed to Kevin McCarthy, the current U.S. House minority leader, becoming the chamber’s next speaker.
Republicans appear to be close to winning control of the House, as results from Tuesday’s midterm elections continued to get tabulated. But their majority is expected to be narrow, and that’s already creating turbulence for the House GOP leadership.
Good made his remarks Thursday night during a Fox News interview, arguing that McCarthy hasn’t done enough to oppose Democrats such as President Joe Biden, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
“His only priority the last two years has seemed to be able to get the majority and become speaker — just for the sake of having the majority and becoming speaker,” said Good, who before serving in Congress was a county official and worked for Liberty University.
“He’s essentially had a two-year audition, where he had the exclusive opportunity to earn the vote of the conference, to demonstrate that he was willing to fight against the Biden-Pelosi-Schumer agenda. And he failed to do that.”
McCarthy’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. On Thursday, the California Republican announced that he had established “transition teams” for the 118th Congress to “ensure that a Republican Majority is ready to get to work for the American people on Day One.”
The House Freedom Caucus, known for helping to bring about former House Speaker John Boehner’s departure from his post in 2015, is made up of several dozen of the chamber’s most conservative Republicans.
Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida and Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina are other Freedom Caucus members who have said this week that they’re not supporting McCarthy.
But one of the hardline group’s most influential members, Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, has been sounding a different note, telling Fox News Radio, “The guy who gets you to the Super Bowl, even if it’s a game in overtime, gets to coach the game, in my judgment.”
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