'Marge Greene's gimp': Critics pile on Kevin McCarthy over Biden impeachment inquiry

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) announced he was moving forward with an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden on Tuesday, despite the fact that the Republicans' investigations have so far turned up no proof linking the president to his son's overseas business dealings.

Many political observers on Twitter jumped to ridicule McCarthy for caving to the demands of former President Donald Trump and his allies to launch what they see as a flimsy impeachment inquiry.

Former GOP strategist Rick Wilson, for one, accused McCarthy of being terrified of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA).

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"McCarthy clings the office, the portrait, and the title as the degenerates, maniacs, arsonists, and dead-enders burn his legacy to ashes," Wilson wrote. "He’s Marge Splayfoot Green’s gimp, ball-gagged and subservient, whimpering and debased, terrified of her wrath and yet tumescent from her cruelty."

Rolling Stone reporter Asawin Suebsaeng, meanwhile, argued that the impeachment inquiry was likely to blow up in McCarthy's face.

"Virtually the entirety of the GOP elite, from Trump on down, is engaged in a blatant, corrupt conspiracy right now to try to drive up Joe Biden’s approval rating as they head into an election year," he joked.

Former Rep. David Jolly (R-FL) similarly predicted that the gambit would backfire and argued that "Kevin McCarthy may be securing Joe Biden's re-election this morning."

Another former Republican lawmaker, Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-VA), also warned against trying to remove Biden from office.

"My former Republican colleagues in the House are planning to move forward with an impeachment inquiry despite zero evidence against the President," he wrote. "This is a conspiracy theory in plain sight. As a former GOP member of Congress, I’ll be the first to say this should end."

And even conservative activist Erick Erickson, a longtime critic of Biden, sounded cautious about the prospects of impeaching Biden.

"Just me, but it seems like [Department of Homeland Security chief Alejandro] Mayorkas is a better target for impeachment, particularly given his insistence on the border being secure," he wrote. "And it exploits an issue that is less likely to cause Democrats to circle the wagons without political fallout."