Newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is going to plunge Congress into chaos for former President Donald Trump's benefit, warned political strategist Chai Komanduri on Wednesday's edition of MSNBC's "The Beat."
This comes after Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), the architect of the vote to strip Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) of the speakership in the first place, came on the program to defend his actions and the new House leadership.
"This was about a personal grudge that Matt Gaetz had with Kevin McCarthy," said Komanduri. "He decided to take him out. He also decided to take him out — I believe, and the facts bear it out — at the behest of Donald Trump. Donald Trump wants a government shutdown. You know, that is exactly what Kevin McCarthy's great sin was. He did not shut down the government and create an atmosphere of chaos by which Donald Trump thought he'd climb back into the presidency. That was what this was about. It was about a government shutdown, it was about shutting off aid to Ukraine."
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"Interesting," said anchor Ari Melber. "Let me ask you this. When you see Matt Gaetz, who seems to happy with this outcome, does that suggest that MAGA, which faces some vulnerability on being perceived as being too extreme, has moved the speakership and thus the majority to the right?"
"Absolutely," confirmed Komanduri. "I wish I could say Matt Gaetz lost, MAGA lost, but no, they won and America has lost. He has put in a speaker that will do Donald Trump's bidding. Get ready. We'll have a government shutdown. We're going to shut down aid to Ukraine to help Trump's major benefactor, Vladimir Putin. That's what's going to occur."
"And do not be fooled by the Halloween costume you saw on display today," added Komanduri. "Matt Gaetz as reasonable, bipartisan, centrist, anti-corruption guy. That's not who he is. That is not who Mike Johnson is. Mike Johnson is every bit the flamethrower that Jim Jordan is, he just wears a pair of glasses and dons a Clark Kent disguise."
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