Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, on Wednesday blasted his Republican colleagues who are refusing to support Kevin McCarthy for House Speaker.
“I’m tired of your stupid platitudes that some consultant told you to say on the campaign trail, alright,” Crenshaw said of the 20 Republican defectors, according to the Washington Post’s Dylan Wells. “Behind closed doors tell us what you actually want, or shut the f— up.”
Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, speaks to media on Capitol Hill on the opening day of the 118th Congress at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Jan 3, 2023.
(AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Crenshaw’s fiery comments come as House Republicans flailed through a second day of fruitless balloting, unable to elect McCarthy as House Speaker or come up with a new strategy.
The ballots were producing almost the same outcome: 20 conservative holdouts still refusing to support him, and leaving him far short of the 218 typically needed to win the gavel.
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Crenshaw said the holdouts, “need to be men and adults and say what they want, instead of playing these little games, that’s what we’re asking.”
“That’s what I’ve asked of them. Some of them are my friends. Stop saying platitudes like, ‘Washington is broken. We can’t do the status quo,” he said. “They want to pull the pins on the grenades and lock the doors.”
McCarthy, the California Republican, vowed to fight to the finish for the speaker’s job despite the grueling spectacle, unlike any in modern times, that threw the new majority into tumult for the first days of the new Congress.
Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., talks to reporters after the House voted to adjourn for the evening as the House met for a second day to elect a speaker and convene the 118th Congress in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
(AP)
Crenshaw accused the holdouts of showing themselves to be “unbelievably serious” and not having a plan.
“It’s almost like they want to make the point that they don’t have a plan,” he said. “They have zero ability to articulate what they want that would cause them to vote yes. It is utterly confusing, and then they get mad at us for criticizing, it’s actually quite hilarious the self-victimization that occurs.”
Crenshaw said he was willing to “hold out forever” noting that McCarthy would have to resign from Congress for him to consider an alternative.
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“[B]ut I’ll tell you what, whoever that 20 wants, I will never vote for that person,” he said. “I do not care who it is. They want to play this game, we’ll play the game.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.