Tapper Tells House Republican, ‘Everything You Said Just Sounds Completely Sane – So, I’m Really Confused’

Jake Tapper lauded Rep. John James (R-MI) for what the CNN host found to be a “sane” response on a day in which some Republicans turned the halls of Congress into a schoolyard.

On the House side, Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) accused Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) of having “elbowed” him in the back. Also, during a committee hearing, Rep. James Comer (R-KY) told Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), “[Y]ou look like a Smurf.”

And in the Senate, Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) challenged a witness to an actual fight during a hearing.

James joined Tuesday’s installment of The Lead, fresh off voting for a funding bill to avert a government shutdown on Friday night. It is a two-pronged piece of legislation that funds some of the government through Jan. 19, and others through Feb. 2 The measure passed and will now go to the Senate.

Tapper asked about the challenges that Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) may face from the hard right members of the Republican conference.

“How do you see him negotiating and navigating this in the future?” the host asked.

“Well, bipartisanship shouldn’t be controversial, especially when the reality states that we have a razor-thin majority in the House, we have a Democrat Senate, we have a Democrat president,” James replied. “Ultimately, if you say you care about the American people, well, paying our customs and Border Patrol agents is caring for the American people. Paying our military members and making sure our veterans maintain their healthcare and mental health services is caring about the American people.”

James went on to tout the need to work in a bipartisan fashion, concluding, “I am very proud to support this continued funding so we don’t shut the government down.”

“Yeah, everything you said just sounds completely sane – so I’m really confused,” Tapper replied, before asking the lawmaker about some of the aforementioned shenanigans earlier in the day.

“So, I’m not going to hold you accountable for what goes on in the Senate, Tapper said. “But what’s going on with Kevin McCarthy like, shooting an elbow to the kidneys of Congressman Burchett? There was even a witness to it, a reporter from NPR.”

“Yeah, I can’t comment on that,” James replied. “I’ve spent most of my day advocating for Israel aid.”

Watch above via CNN.