As Republicans, who were taking control of the House Tuesday following a performance in the midterm elections that fell below expectations but still delivered some wins, wrestled Tuesday over who would become Speaker — with some opposed to seating House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy in the role, Adam Schiff reminded his Twitter followers about what McCarthy really represents.
“Kevin McCarthy will say anything, do anything to become Speaker,” Schiff said on Tuesday. “Just as we saw when he made his pilgrimage to Mar-a-lago after Jan 6th. Because he has no core beliefs or values. Only ambition. I knew it from the first real conversation I had with him.” Schiff, a California Democratic Congressman, linked to a clip of an appearance he made on a liberal podcast where he described an incident some years ago — ahead of the 2010 midterms — when McCarthy brazenly lied about something Schiff told him. Schiff said at the time he thought Democrats would prevail in the midterms, but McCarthy told the press the opposite about Schiff.
“That is how he operates,” Schiff said on the podcast. “In that respect, he was really made for a moment like this, when his party doesn’t believe the truth matters at all; you make up your own alternate facts, and you say anything, you do anything to get power, to keep power. And in that sense, McCarthy and Trump were really made for each other.”
Kevin McCarthy will say anything, do anything to become Speaker.
Just as we saw when he made his pilgrimage to Mar-a-lago after Jan 6th. Because he has no core beliefs or values. Only ambition.
I knew it from the first real conversation I had with him: pic.twitter.com/AziM5ka6vG
— Adam Schiff (@AdamSchiff) January 3, 2023
Republican Adam Kinzinger, who was leaving Congress this week after he declined to seek re-election, also recently spotlighted the trip McCarthy made to Trump’s southern Florida resort not long after January 6, crediting Kevin’s decision with helping keep Trump’s political career alive. “As a leader of Congress, he had an opportunity to tell the truth to the American people, and he went to Mar-a-Lago a couple weeks after January 6 and resurrected Donald Trump,” Kinzinger said. “He is the reason Donald Trump is still a factor. He is the reason that some of the crazy elements of the House still exist.”
The outgoing Congressman, who served with Schiff on the House committee that investigated the Capitol riot, said that the general sentiment among House Republicans changed after McCarthy’s trip to disgruntled acceptance of Donald Trump’s continued leadership. Although putting someone like Kevin at the helm of the House could lead to worries about how Congress will handle the results from the next presidential election, President Joe Biden actually recently signed off on changes to how Congress certifies presidential race outcomes, raising the threshold required for an objection to certain electoral votes to move to debate and a vote from just a member from each chamber to one-fifth of both.
