'They’re willing to take him down': GOP strategist on anti-Jim Jordan voters
Republican strategist and former aide to two House Republican speakers, Brendan Buck, warned that there are members of the House who are willing to do whatever it takes to stop Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) from becoming the next speaker.
In the first ballot, Jordan lost the vote with 200 votes to Democrat Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (NY), who got 212.
"I think it's a big number. I think we expected perhaps Jordan to lose, but 20 is not nothing," said Buck on MSNBC, referring to the number of Republicans who voted against him. "He has a lot of work to do. The people who voted against him, yeah, they were voting for [Kevin] McCarthy (R-CA) and voting for [Steve] Scalise (R-LA)."
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He accused those members of protesting, and said that it's a small minority of the GOP caucus.
"But let's step back a couple of weeks," he said. "Remember we're in the situation because eight people kicked out McCarthy and now Jordan is here because he basically — he and his allies hijacked Steve Scalise who got more votes than Jordan.
"I think there are people fed up with a small number taking the party hostage. So, the next vote is interesting. You have a vote that was a protest and they want to get it off their chest or they're in for a fight. If you still have upper teens voting against Jordan on a second ballot, this could go on for a long time. They weren't just willing to go on the record for someone else, they're willing to take him down."
Former GOP strategist Tim Miller agreed, but explained that it isn't merely the anti-Jordan wing. He said there are members who simply don't want a speaker to be elected because they want to burn the House down. Some have loyalties to McCarthy and Scalise, but he doesn't think that those members are up for a fight the way MAGA Republicans are.
"That group — they do want to govern, they can be dealt with and traded with," said Miller about the McCarthy stalwarts.
"Those eight, they don't care if the House doesn't do anything," he said about the rebels who brought down McCarthy.
"That's actually a win for them if the House doesn't do anything. So, I think that Jordan has that advantage of having, you know, these kind of nihilists working on his side, and maybe he can cut a deal with the more moderate Republicans. But I hope not."
See the conversation with the two in the video below or at the link here.
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