Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) says that ousted House Speaker Kevin McCarthy essentially made the bed he’s lying in — and not just by concessions he made to the far-right Freedom Caucus to win the Speakership in January. Omar says that McCarthy’s ignominious departure from the Speaker’s post is an “example of what happens when you don’t know how to keep your word.”
Omar says of Congress that “this is a place that is based traditionally on people being able to count on your word — there [are] not other assurances.” The Congresswoman proceeds to slam McCarthy with a Trump-style nickname, saying “the fact that McCarthy has become known as ‘chief liar’ — whether it is within his conference or the Democrats — really sealed his fate.”
Rep. @Ilhan Omar to @KatiePhang:
— MSNBC Public Relations (@MSNBCPR) October 4, 2023
“The fact that McCarthy has become known as chief liar, whether it is within his conference or within the Democrats, really sealed his fate."
Watch via @MSNBC. pic.twitter.com/rk3WtW6niO
McCarthy, trying to placate and please, instead managed to alienate both sides. Gaining the MAGA GOP’s eternal ire, he worked with Biden allowing the debt ceiling to be raised and later capitulated as far as the far-right was concerned by using Democrats to pass a stopgap funding measure to keep the government open.
Yet in a permissive nod to those very MAGA adherents he’d angered, McCarthy also unilaterally allowed an impeachment inquiry into Biden to go forward, despite previously stating that such a measure would at least require a vote.
Omar finds herself in the extremely unlikely position of agreeing with Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-FL) on an issue. Gaetz, who orchestrated McCarthy’s ouster, said after the gavel was taken from him that “the reason Kevin McCarthy went down today is because nobody trusts Kevin McCarthy.” That’s how it goes when they call you “chief liar.”
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