House Republican Says His GOP Colleagues Are ‘Peeing on the Electric Fence’ in Speaker Fight

Rep. Steve Womack (R-AK) raised a smile from CNN’s Jake Tapper Friday when discussing why the GOP is mired in such chaos while trying to choose a House speaker.

“Congressman, your conference voted by secret ballot and determined that Jordan should not remain the speaker candidate. So I have to ask: in the midst of two major foreign policy crises and this pending government shutdown, what on Earth was this week about? Why did Jim Jordan force these three votes and waste this entire week?” Tapper asked.

“Well, Jake, you’re right,” Womack said. “Sometimes we can be slow learners. It is kind of ironic that we’re doing this interview in the shadows of the Will Rogers statue from Oklahoma right behind me. And you remember what will said about this whole business of learning: You can learn, people learn by reading, people can learn by observation, and sometimes people learn by just peeing on the electric fence for themselves.

“So, that is a situation that is reminiscent of House Republicans right now, that it has taken us now 17 days since the removal of Kevin McCarthy, for us to be in a situation where we can, at least see some clarity, some light at the end of the tunnel.”

Womack said House members will be back “Monday night at 6:30 and we’ll start this process all over again.”

Tapper then added a Rogers quote of his own.

“I also know Will Rogers said, ‘I’m not a member of an organized political party, I’m a Democrat.’ And maybe that was true of the Democratic Party at the time, but it sure describes your party right now, which is, at least on the House side, just a God-awful mess. Do you think you’re going to get it together, your party?”

Tapper added, “Is there somebody you like? Tom Emmer (R-MN) seems kind of like a Womack Republican, maybe?”

“I like anybody that we can muster 217 votes for,” Womack answered, “But that is certainly an elusive target right now because of the fractures in the conference.”

Fox News Digital reported that at least eight candidates have come forward since Jordan’s defeat, including Rep. Kevin Hern, (R-OK), Rep. Jack Bergman (R-MI), and Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL).

Watch the clip above via CNN.