House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is being held hostage by fear of his own caucus, former White House Press Secretary and MSNBC host Jen Psaki argued on Tuesday.
She offered her analysis in a segment discussing McCarthy's endorsement of a far-right resolution that would purportedly "expunge" the two impeachments of former President Donald Trump.
"When you look at just Kevin McCarthy, the Speaker, given another chance to be adult in the room and say, stop with the nonsense, let's move forward and get some legislation passed, let's do things for the people who voted us, taking a pass on that and, again, fanning the flames of this stuff that comes from the extremes of his party," said anchor Willie Geist. "I mean, we're talking about looking to the past again just as a political question. Let's look back to 2020. Look back at Hunter Biden. Let's look back at all this stuff, rather than looking ahead, as the man you once worked for, President Biden, is attempting to do, even with this Congress he has to deal with."
"That's right," said Psaki. "I think it is pretty clear that Kevin McCarthy is motivated, right now, by fear. Fear of losing the Speakership. Fear of angering the base of Republicans. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, whatever the collection of people from the circus wing of the party is. He is fearful of angering them and angering the Trump base because he wants to hold on to the Speakership. Now, we don't know whether or not Kevin McCarthy thinks truthfully this is the right strategy as Speaker or the right thing he should be doing as Speaker, because he is so motivated by that fear."
READ MORE: Trump starts morning with all-caps tirade against 'deranged Jack Smith' and 'Joe Bidden'
Regardless, Psaki added, "this is not what Congress is elected to do," nor "what the Speaker is supposed to be doing."
"We also know that the contrast is quite stark between kind of leading the House of Representatives down a rabbit hole of trying to expunge impeachments versus actually trying to get something done," she continued. "I think what a lot of Democrats are betting on, and I spoke with Speaker Pelosi and she is betting on this over the weekend, is that the American public is smart. They will look and think, that is chaotic and crazy, and I don't know what they're trying to do over there. I would like the people representing me to do something. We won't know until the election, but I think that's what a lot of Democrats in leadership and Democrats running the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and certainly the Biden campaign is betting on."
Watch the video below or at this link.
Jen Psaki says Kevin McCarthy is scared of his "circus"www.youtube.com
