Republicans created the problems in the functioning of their governance — or attempts at it — that resulted this week in the sudden removal of Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) as House Speaker. In specific terms, McCarthy and other Republicans agreed to the House rules deal that allowed an individual member (like Florida Republican Matt Gaetz) to bring a motion to vacate! (That’s the procedural measure that pushed McCarthy from continuing as Speaker.)
More generally, many Republicans across the party have provided ideological space for the extremism often associated with Gaetz and others whose names are often uttered in close proximity. Just look at how many of the Republicans in the House voted against the full certification of the results from the 2020 presidential election despite no evidence for any systematic fraud or problem! That list includes McCarthy himself.
“It is more than amusing and hypocritical to see them attack Gaetz for being a chaos agent,” Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) remarked during a memorable discussion with MSNBC host Chris Hayes. “They elected a chaos agent. They still owe their fealty to the greatest chaos agent tragically the country has seen in Donald Trump. So they made this monster. They’re trying to deal with it now. But for the country’s sake, they need to somehow get their half of the House in order, pick someone who can govern, who can be trusted, so that we can move things forward.”
Trump now is spending his time outside the White House on suggesting the execution of now retired Gen. Mark Milley and continuing to falsely allege the 2020 election was stolen from him. And that’s in addition, of course, to his wide-ranging criminal and civil proceedings, some of which recently culminated in a partial gag order after he targeted a judge’s law clerk by name on social media.
.@RepAdamSchiff : “It’s more than amusing and hypocritical to see them attack Gaetz for being a chaos agent. They elected a chaos agent and they still owe their fealty to the greatest chaos agent tragically the country has seen in Donald Trump.” pic.twitter.com/fsTeHu5KW9
— All In with Chris Hayes (@allinwithchris) October 4, 2023
