'Not sure they care about crime': MSNBC host rips key GOP speaker candidate after Jordan
Now that Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) is out of the running for Speaker of the House, Republicans have a free-for-all as no fewer than eight members have thrown their hat in the ring for the top position. But ironically, noted MSNBC anchor Joy Reid on Monday, many of them have records that prove the GOP's passionate commitment to stamping out crime in last year's midterms is selective, at best.
Her guest, Trump critic and former Rep. David Jolly (R-FL), concurred.
"Let me put up this list again," said Reid. "Kevin Hern, who as you note, is the chair of the Republican Study Committee. At least he has some committee relationships. Part of the job of being speaker is raising lots of money for your fellow members. I'm not sure Byron Donalds — and as you said, the bank fraud thing, they didn't mind about Jim Jordan's connection to a coach who was allegedly a child molester, so I don't know that they care about crime, but he has that criminal thing in his background. At least Hern, like you said, very conservative. And give us your other one, Emmer, at least he's raised money for other people."
Donalds was arrested in 1997 for possession of marijuana, reported the Florida Politics blog. "The case was put into pre-trial diversion, and Leon County court records show he paid a $150 fee. He plead no contest to bribery in 2000 and served two years of probation. Those records were sealed, Donalds told a FOX 4 reporter in 2014."
He then lied about the incident on a form.
Then there's a 2000 bribery charge that was later expunged and isn't available on a public record.
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"Is there any rationality, what you just described as a rational way of thinking about who to pick?" Reid continued. "Are they being rational? Because I just saw a note that Byron Donalds has appeared the most on Fox of anyone who is running. Is that how they're picking at this point?"
"Well, this is interesting because you can make a case for three or four candidates," said Jolly. "I really think Kevin Hern is the safest pick for Republicans. Again, because nobody knows who he is, and so maybe everybody can rally around him. Certainly, conservative."
"The interesting thing about Donalds, he's the only Freedom Caucus member," Jolly added. "You can make a case for why they can't get there. The member I keep thinking about is Kay Granger, the House Appropriations chair, an institutionalist who stopped Jim Jordan. And I think if she sees a Byron Donalds or some of these others, she's going to say, are we really going to do this? But if you have Kevin Hern, somebody who came from the business world, has run the Republican Study Committee. I don't know, this is it for Republicans, Joy. If it's not one of these nine, they're not going to have a speaker."
Watch the video below or at the link here.
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