Firebrand Congressman and House Freedom Caucus member Chip Roy (R-TX) has already famously maligned his GOP House colleagues as ineffectual posers. But this week on the House floor Roy savaged the leader of the pack, former President Donald Trump, painting the current GOP presidential frontrunner as yet another empty-promise Republican who says he’ll do something and then fails to deliver.
Roy had the temerity to correct Trump on the record, saying that Trump’s claims of being able to shut down the border — and of having essentially overseen a non-porous border as President — are false.
Roy: I saw Trump make that allegation on one of his social media posts. All a president has to do is declare the border is closed, and it's closed. Well, with all due respect, that didn't happen in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020. There were millions that came in during those years pic.twitter.com/peA3TLy599
— Acyn (@Acyn) February 7, 2024
“We’re not just going to pass the buck and say that any President can just walk in and secure the border,” Roy said. “I saw former President Trump make that allegation earlier today on one of his social media posts — ‘all a president has to do is declare a border is closed, and it’s closed.’ Well, with all due respect, that didn’t happen in 2017, 18, 19, and 20. There were millions that came in during those four years.”
Roy breaks with established GOP protocol in calling out Trump on fabrications and misrepresentations of his record, even if Roy does so with “all due respect.”
It’s not the first time Roy has risked alienating his peers in pursuit of real goals. Late last year, Roy became a favorite of Democrats when the furious lawmaker excoriated his GOP colleagues in the House as inept do-nothings.
Erupting during a speech on the House floor, Roy held the feet of the entire Republican House conference to the fire, demanding accountability.
Roy: One thing. I want my Republican colleagues to give me one thing. One. That I can go campaign on and say we did. Anybody sitting in the complex, if you want to come down to the floor and come explain to me, one meaningful, significant thing the Republican majority has done pic.twitter.com/RGc4FTAelt
— Acyn (@Acyn) November 15, 2023
Roy’s vituperative monologue included this barrage (as seen in the video segment above):
“One thing. I want my Republican colleagues to give me one thing. One. That I can go campaign on and say we did. Anybody sitting in the complex, if you want to come down to the floor and come explain to me one material, meaningful, significant thing the Republican majority has done.”
Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX)
Democrats at the time shared Roy’s outrage far and wide, with Biden-Harris HQ — the President’s rapid response campaign operation — amplifying the speech as evidence it wasn’t just Biden characterizing the GOP as inept.
.jpg){kind=link}