‘David Duke Without the Baggage’: Joy Reid Mocks Possible Scalise Speakership by Citing Past Comments, Says GOP ‘Bench Is Rotten’

MSNBC’s Joy Reid suggested few if any Republicans are suitable for the speakership after Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) did not secure enough votes to attain the position.

McCarthy failed to gain the necessary 218 votes in each of the three roll calls held on Tuesday. Nearly two dozen Republicans voted against him, and it is unclear if he will notch enough votes in future contests.

Reid addressed potential alternatives to McCarthy, such as Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) on Tuesday’s edition of The ReidOut.

“Who have they got as backup?” Reid asked former Republican Hill staffer Kurt Bardella.

“Steve Scalise, Jim Jordan, who got the second-most votes in the Republican conference for speaker today, even though he said he doesn’t want it,” Bardella replied.

“There’s no 218 votes for that guy,” Reid said, before pointing to accusations that Jordan failed to act on claims a doctor was sexually assaulting Ohio State wrestlers when Jordan coached there.

“The minute he became speaker, the next day, the George Clooney-executive-produced documentary about what he did when he was an assistant coach in Ohio and all of those young men were assaulted, is coming out,” Reid said. “So, he doesn’t want to be speaker for good reason.”

Bardella called Scalise “the most likely” alternative to McCarthy, citing his long tenure in House GOP leadership.

“David Duke without the baggage,” Reid replied.

“He has to go and raise money – Steve Scalise – if he’s the speaker,” Reid added, before citing an old report in which Scalise allegedly told a reporter he was “like David Duke without the baggage.”

Duke is a former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan who served in Louisiana’s House of Representatives from 1989 to 1992.

“Scalise appeared at a White supremacist group founded by David Duke,” Reid stated.

Reid also ripped Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), who is adamantly opposed to a McCarthy speakership.

“Chip Roy, who gave a speech today,” she went on, “That’s the guy who endorsed lynchings in Texas. The bench is rotten.”

Reid appeared to be referencing comments Roy made in 2021.

“We believe in justice. There’s old sayings in Texas about ‘find all the rope in Texas and get a tall oak tree,’” Roy said. “You know, we take justice very seriously, and we ought to do that. Round up the bad guys. That’s what we believe.”

Watch above via MSNBC.

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