Late Thursday and early Friday, House GOP leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) went on an on — for over eight hours — in opposition to the socially oriented spending package known as the Build Back Better Act that the House was preparing to pass. The House’s version of the bill would cap the price of insulin at $35 a month, extend Medicare benefits to cover hearing-related expenses, and more — and it’s this piece of substantively uplifting legislation that McCarthy decided to spend his night publicly rambling against. Amid his sprawling remarks, the team of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) sent out a couple of statements shredding his antics.
What’s in Build Back Better for health care
– Capping insulin at $35/month
– Capping seniors’ out-of-pocket drug spending at $2,000/yr
– Medicare drug-price negotiations
– Expanding Medicare to cover hearing benefits
– Boosting ACA subsidies
– Closing Medicaid gap in 12 states https://t.co/QpWyrZA2oi— Dan Diamond (@ddiamond) November 18, 2021
In one of the statements, Pelosi’s team asked the simple yet scathing question: “Is Kevin McCarthy OK?” That particular statement included a rundown of befuddled reactions from reporters to McCarthy’s sprawling rant, and alongside that list, it read as follows:
‘We’re glad we’re not the only ones who can’t follow Minority Leader McCarthy’s meandering rant that has nothing to do with the Build Back Better Act. Tonight, Kevin McCarthy previewed Republicans very best attacks against the deficit reducing, inflation crushing Build Back Better Act. As he hopefully approaches the end, we’re all left wondering: does Kevin McCarthy know where he is right now?’
Pelosi's latest press release: "Is Kevin McCarthy OK?" pic.twitter.com/vgRCxiL4wU
— Andrew Solender (@AndrewSolender) November 19, 2021
Eventually, McCarthy stopped talking — after more than eight hours. He didn’t really accomplish anything substantive with his speech… early Friday morning, the House passed the Build Back Better Act, just as it had been set to do before. In a previous statement from the Pelosi team, they provided fact-checks of claims from the GOP leader. Specifically, they tore apart his insistence that Americans aren’t actually on-board with the provisions of the Build Back Better Act.
As that statement put it:
‘During this evening’s temper tantrum, Minority Leader McCarthy did everything he could to avoid talking about the deficit reducing, inflation crushing Build Back Better Act. But he did make unhinged claims about what the American people “don’t want and need.” We figured he could use a fact check… 88 percent of Americans support Build Back Better’s measures to cut prescription drug prices… 84 percent of Americans support Build Back Better’s provisions to lower health insurance premiums… 73 percent of Americans support Build Back Better’s funding for paid family leave… 72 percent of Americans support Build Back Better’s creation of clean energy jobs to combat climate change… 67 percent of Americans support Build Back Better’s funding for universal pre-K.’
Pelosi's office sends out a press release near the 2-hour mark of McCarthy's speech calling it a "temper tantrum" pic.twitter.com/xmCOlPHPVa
— Andrew Solender (@AndrewSolender) November 19, 2021
“House Democrats are preparing to pass landmark legislation to lower costs, fight inflation and make big corporations and the wealthiest pay their fair share,” the statement added. “But McCarthy is welcome to keep getting facts wrong on the House Floor.” Certain observers saw McCarthy’s stunt — which he orchestrated to go on for longer than a speech by Pelosi that had set the record for the longest speech in modern history on the House floor — as an attempt to ingratiate himself with the Trump wing of the GOP (which is almost all of it). But as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) put it, “McCarthy may have been auditioning for his base, but he was not auditioning for any sort of respect.”
“McCarthy may have been auditioning for his base, but he was not auditioning for any sort of respect,” @AOC tells me of McCarthy’s speech.
“I think he wanted to say he did it longer than Nancy Pelosi, but if he wanted to out-do her, he should’ve done it in stilettos.”
— Andrew Solender (@AndrewSolender) November 19, 2021
