(DCWatchdog.com) – Hours before Kevin McCarthy became the first US House speaker in history to be removed from office, 2024 Republican nomination hopeful Ron DeSantis declared he had opposed him long before doing so became “cool.”
You can watch a video of DeSantis’ remarks further down this post.
At the same time, Florida’s governor, who spoke in a Scripps News interview on Tuesday, didn’t explicitly welcome the motion to oust McCarthy (R-CA) as speaker, slamming instead what he described as “theatrics by DC Republicans.”
McCarthy was deposed in a 216-210 vote on Tuesday, with seven House members abstaining, which made him the third shortest-serving speaker in history. Eight Republicans voted to relieve the speaker of his duties.
Earlier, holding a vote on the motion to vacate filed against McCarthy by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) was approved with 218 votes in favor and 208 votes against.
In his interview ahead of the House vote, DeSantis blasted McCarthy as a favorite of his 2024 GOP nomination rival, Donald Trump.
“I opposed McCarthy when it wasn’t cool years ago. He’s really somebody that Donald Trump has backed and put into that position,” Florida’s governor said.
“And so I think that they’ve not delivered results. I think the contrast between Florida, us delivering results, and what you have in Washington is typically failure theater,” he added, as cited by The Hill.
DeSantis served in the House of Representatives between 2013 and 2018 and was among the founding members of the conservative Freedom Caucus.
“Look, this whole movement to do this motion [to oust McCarthy], I think a lot of that is performative,” DeSantis declared.
“I think a lot of that is the typical theatrics we’re used to seeing. I’m not sure how much thought is going into that, but I can tell you this, our voters want to see results. We’re sick of the talk. A lot of these DC Republicans have promised all of these things over the years, and then when it comes time, they don’t deliver,” he added.
When asked which House Republican should succeed Kevin McCarthy as speaker, DeSantis didn’t pinpoint his favorite.
Yet, he praised two members of Congress who had endorsed him, Rep. Chip Roy of Texas and Tom Massie (R-KY).
“Those are two good guys… but I think it’s a thankless job, so I don’t think they would want to sign up for it,” DeSantis concluded.
First to Scripps News: Presidential candidate Ron DeSantis says he was against McCarthy “before it was cool” and places blame on Trump for putting him in position.
Conversation with @joestgeorge. pic.twitter.com/MIL0vkLHrV
— Scripps News (@scrippsnews) October 3, 2023
