RNC Chairwoman Calls Out Republicans as McCarthy Loses First Round In Speaker Bid: ‘Democrats Always Seem to Stick Together’

Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel joined Fox News on Tuesday to weigh in on Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) not being able to secure the House speakership on the first ballot due to GOP infighting, which McDaniel decried during the interview.

“Your reaction to no majority emerging in the first House for the speaker vote for Kevin McCarthy?” asked anchor Sandra Smith.

“Well, I look at the contrast with the Democrats who very clearly are going to elect Hakeem Jeffries. And I think the number one thing I always hear on the road is ‘why do Democrats always seem to stick together? And Republicans don’t,’” replied McDaniel, adding:

And the American people want us to take the reins of the House. We just retired Nancy Pelosi. It was done in large part because of Kevin McCarthy and his work. And I think any delay is a delay in getting the business and the work done of the American people.

I don’t see policy differences that are dividing these votes right now. Kevin wants to tackle the border. He wants to get rid of the 87,000 IRS agents. So I think as the votes continue, he’s going to continue to bring members his way I hope. He is the one who retired Nancy Pelosi. He was the minority leader. He switched it so that we can have a Republican speaker and you see broad, broad support for him. The vast majority of members support Kevin.

Anchor John Roberts then played a clip of Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) tearing into the GOP hardliners sabotaging McCarthy.

“The the opponents of McCarthy really can’t even articulate what it is that they want here. And in doing this, what are they doing to the Republican Party?” asked Roberts after the clip.

“Well, I was just I’m in Michigan right now, and I was just talking to somebody who said this makes the party look bad. We just elected Republicans to take over the House. And why can’t you guys unify?” McDaniels replied, again lamenting the splits within her party.

“And it’s division for division sake,” added McDaniel, who famously dropped “Romney” from her name to distance herself from Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT).

“I’m not seeing a policy separation. Kevin is certainly not a moderate. He is somebody who has tackled the border, who has tackled big issues,” McDaniel continued, adding:

He also raised the money and recruited many of the candidates that were just elected, not just in 2022, but also in 2020. So I will say this. We have a big task ahead of us in 2024 to take back the White House. The Senate map gets infinitely better and we have to keep the House. And every day that we are delaying the agenda that the American people elected Republicans to govern with is a day that we are not getting the work done of the American people.

And I, it’s five. It’s ten. The vast majority of the members support Kevin. These ten who don’t. I hope they come around because we have to unify. We have to unify. I think this is the biggest message coming out of this midterm. If you look at all the split tickets, if you look at states where Republicans refuse to vote for other Republicans in a large part, that’s why we didn’t get the wins that we we wanted in this election because of Republican on Republican infighting. And it is carrying into this speaker election. And I think it’s something that’s disheartening and is not bringing people to our party.

“We need to show a vision of positivity and an agenda of getting things done for the American people. If we’re going to continue to get reelected in these next elections and we need to elect a speaker,” she concluded.

“Ronna hardline members of the House Freedom Caucus, as we have seen in recent days, have indicated over the last few days that after this first vote, which is going to conclude shortly, that they would nominate a new candidate around who they hoped Republicans could support. Can you add any color to that and what we should know?” asked Smith.

“You know, I don’t know who that would be, Sandra. I mean, the reality is Kevin has a huge group of Republican voter congresspeople who support him, who are not going to move,” McDaniel replied, hyping the more moderate elements of the GOP who have refused to support anyone but McCarthy.

“They are not going to go for any other candidate. So when he’s at, what, over 200 votes for him and there’s maybe ten or 12 that are differing, the majority are going to stick with Kevin and I don’t think they’re budging. So this could go into multiple votes,” replied McDaniel, adding:

And why are they with Kevin? Because he was the one traveling the country. He was the one raising millions and millions of dollars. He is the one that just secured a Republican majority in the House. I think a lot of us did that together. But he is the one who did the work. And I think a lot of these members are very, very loyal to him. On top of the fact that he’s going to be a bold leader as speaker and he is going to do the things that Republican voters want Republican leadership to do.

Watch the full clip above via Fox News