Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) let it slip that speaker-hopeful Steve Scalise (R-LA) seemed to have badly overestimated the support that he had among his fellow GOP lawmakers.
Scalise, who was running against Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) for the post, told members of the GOP conference that he had the support of 150 fellow members
Speaking to reporters in the Capitol on Thursday, McCarthy noted that Scalise came up well short of this mark by tallying only 113 votes.
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ABC correspondent Rachel Scott caught McCarthy on camera saying Scalise has "a big hill" to climb.
“He told a lot of people he would be at 150 and he wasn’t there," said McCarthy.
Jordan has already thrown his support to Scalise, though it's unclear whether the Ohio Republican's backers are willing to shift their allegiances to Scalise in significant numbers.
“Time is of the essence,” McCarthy said.
Republicans desperately want to send additional funds to Israel after being hit by a terrorist attack. There is also the matter of the continuing resolution to fund the government that was set for 45 days on Sept. 30. The end date for that is Nov. 17, just before the Thanksgiving holiday and the start of the holiday season.
