House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has been making the rounds touting the success of his debt deal with President Joe Biden, a compromise — that controversial political word — which both Republicans and Democrats are characterizing as a win for their respective sides. (Notably, the groups claiming victory do not include the far right Freedom Caucus GOP members or the far left contingent on the Democrat side.)
McCarthy used the debt ceiling as a “negotiating wedge” to exact budget concessions, which even Donald Trump said should never be done. Still, given the high stakes of a potential default, the Speaker was able to extract some winning points — clawing back unused COVID funds, defunding a potentially more powerful IRS that would have the resources to go after big tax evaders, and getting some work requirements in place for welfare recipients, among other things.
Around CNBC and Fox, these procedural details — which McCarthy characterized as a beginning of the “turning around of the ship” — dominated the discussion of McCarthy’s media victory lap. The Speaker dutifully shared on Twitter his discussions with Maria Bartiromo and Joe Kernen, et al.
.@SpeakerMcCarthy touts debt ceiling deal with President Biden on @sundayfutures: "This is the largest cut in American history." pic.twitter.com/rYzWdFwBDm
— Fox News (@FoxNews) June 4, 2023
But it was McCarthy’s strategic philosophy that won him the praise of veteran conservative opinion maker Hugh Hewitt. And Hewitt’s comparison of McCarthy’s work style to that of the legendary fictional coach Ted Lasso pleased the Speaker, who shared it on his social media accounts.
Crediting McCarthy with a huge win, Hewitt wrote: “He lives by @TedLasso’s “Be a goldfish” rule: forget the past, move forward, don’t keep score or hold grudges.
Hard to improve on @KimStrassel assessment of @SpeakerMcCarthy huge win but I’ll add: He lives by @TedLasso’s “Be a goldfish” rule: forget the past, move forward, don’t keep score or hold grudges. He leads a diverse @HouseGOP https://t.co/ycZvlLZ8eu
— Hugh Hewitt (@hughhewitt) June 2, 2023
[NOTE: Hewitt might also have ascribed the Goldfish Rule to Biden’s political philosophy, as the President displayed the same characteristics in seeing the compromise through despite reservations with McCarthy’s right to hold the country “hostage” over the debt.]
Here’s the Lasso goldfish reference point:
