Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene warned her fellow Republicans during an appearance on Steve Bannon‘s podcast that not supporting Kevin McCarthy could mean seeing Liz Cheney become House Speaker in the near future.
While results are still coming in from Tuesday’s midterms, it’s believed that Republicans could turn the House with a narrow 219-seat majority, meaning electing a new leader to take on the role held by Nancy Pelosi for nearly two years. Greene told Bannon during the interview that Republicans had to “lead this country” and extinguish the “dumpster fire” Democrats left them. According to Greene, electing Cheney as House Speaker would be a step in the wrong direction.
Cheney, a Republican representative from Wyoming mulling over a 2024 presidential run, has repeatedly criticized former President Donald Trump, namely for his involvement in the U.S. Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, and his unfounded claims that the 2020 election was stolen. Cheney is one of two Republicans on the January 6 committee investigating the riot.
The criticism angered Trump, who endorsed Cheney’s GOP primary challenger Harriet Hageman, who went on to win the midterm election. Although she won’t serve in Congress for another term, Cheney could still win a House Speaker election if she garners enough support from House lawmakers before she leaves in 2023.
Representative Kevin McCarthy, a Republican from California, is the current House Minority Leader and has launched a bid for House Speaker but may face challenges at being elected after a poorer-than-expected performance from Republicans in the midterm elections.
“We cannot open the door to what the Democrats are doing right now, and that is scurrying all the way around looking for any weak RINO (Republican In Name Only) sellout Republicans that will join them,” Greene said on the podcast. “That is what’s happening right now, and I find that terrifying.”
The Georgia Republican said she expected lots of fighting in each party as they discuss the upcoming Speaker’s race, expected to occur after the new Congress takes office.
“There is no way in hell I’m going to vote to hand that gavel to Liz Cheney or anyone else Nancy Pelosi wants,” Greene said, adding that electing Cheney as Speaker of the House would be a “bad strategy” for the Republicans.
“We’re looking at having a very razor-thin majority with potentially 219. We are talking about one vote,” she said. “We have already been through two years where we saw Republicans—Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger—cross over and join the Democrats and produce a January 6 committee that has been a witch hunt against President Trump…Here’s the harsh reality, there are Republicans in our conference right now that would make a deal with the Democrats and cross over.”
Greene urged the Republican party to unite behind McCarthy instead.
“He already has the vote,” she said.
Newsweek reached out to Greene and Cheney’s offices for comment.
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