Meadows Blocks McCarthy and Suggests Trump Should Be Elected Speaker If Republicans Win Back the House
“They’re not skating anywhere. And so I’m going to give them a ‘D’,” Meadows said of House Republican leadership during an appearance on Florida GOP Representative Matt Gaetz’s podcast. “I believe that with this tactic and strategy – listen, you need to get the Democrats to win tough votes. You need to make sure that once you’ve got them, you don’t have to give up the car. White towel.”
Meadows, a Republican from North Carolina who was serving in the House of Representatives before Trump selected him as his top aide in 2020, said in a separate appearance on an allied podcast. Trump’s Steve Bannon held that he “would love to see someone else. (House Speaker) Nancy Pelosi with Donald Trump.”
“You talk about melting, people go crazy,” he said.
Speaker of the House need not be a member of the House of Commons, only need to be elected by the body.
The comments from Meadows highlighted growing tensions within the Republican Party, with Trump loyalists openly criticizing McCarthy, a California Republican who is also one of Trump’s top allies. in Congress, less than a year before the midterm elections.
Former Ohio Republican Governor John Kasich, who also served in the House for a time and ran against Trump in the 2016 Republican presidential election, told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on “Love Room” situation” on Thursday that Meadows’ comments “were insane.”
“It looks like he’s still running a lot in the Republican party,” Kasich said of Trump. “As to whether that will still be the pinnacle of his power – remains to be seen. I hope we wake up.”