In one of the worst political strategies in modern memory, Kevin McCarthy is holding the House floor in what looks like a tantrum over opposition to universal pre-k and lower prescription drug prices.
McCarthy wasn’t arguing against the Build Back Better bill. Instead, the House Minority Leader ranted about immigrants for a good hour.
As he entered his third hour, he began to tire. Soon he was rambling about Trump not winning the Nobel Prize:
Kevin McCarthy complains that Trump hasn't won a Nobel Prize pic.twitter.com/3gybJSHBoI
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 19, 2021
Soon McCarthy was yelling random things that came into his head:
Kevin McCarthy's brain is just randomly firing now. He's yelling whatever fragment of a thought enters his head. pic.twitter.com/pEvFH8SjH4
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 19, 2021
McCarthy, “Inflation, gas prices, Thanksgiving.”
It’s the perfect encapsulation of the emptiness of the 2022 Republican campaign. They’re mad. They’re yelling, and they are making absolutely zero sense.
Kevin McCarthy thinks that he is rallying the Republican troops, but the truth is, even his own Republicans stopped paying attention a couple of hours ago. McCarthy doesn’t have the charisma or the substance to pull off a stunt like this.
He’s just a little boy whose suit is too big trying to sit at the grown-up table and hoping that no one notices that he doesn’t belong.
Rep. McCarthy is holding the House floor and delaying the vote on the final passage because he doesn’t want legislation to pass that helps people.
McCarthy’s spectacle is revealing, inadequate, and sad all at the same time.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
