Ted Cruz Rips MTG’s ‘Silly’ Attempt to Oust Speaker Mike Johnson: ‘Really Unhelpful to the Country’

The Yomiuri Shimbun via AP Images & AP Photo/Barry Reeger

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) condemned Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-GA) efforts to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) on Thursday, calling the plan “silly,” “counterproductive,” and “really unhelpful to the country.”

After Cruz was asked on the Real Clear Politics Podcast whether he supported Greene’s efforts to oust Johnson as speaker, Cruz replied, “Look, I think it is silly. I think it is seriously counterproductive.”

He argued:

I think Mike Johnson is a strong conservative who’s been given an almost impossible task. He has a tiny majority in the House, just a two-vote majority, that means any three House members run off to the hills and the majority evaporates, and I think Marjorie Taylor Greene, to try to topple the speaker, increases the chances of chaos and increases the chances of handing control to the Democrats.

Cruz concluded, “There is zero chance a more conservative speaker will result, and so I think what she’s doing is really unhelpful to the country.”

Greene – a loyalist of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who was replaced by Johnson in October after eight Republicans voted to oust him from his position – announced on Wednesday that she would force a motion to oust Johnson after he supported a package to provide further aid to Ukraine.

“I really don’t give a rat’s ass what anybody up here says about what I’m doing,” she told CNN.

Johnson responded to Greene’s announcement by saying, “Bless her heart,” and remarking that Greene did not appear to be a serious lawmaker.

“I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about her,” he said during an appearance on NewsNation. “I’ve got to do my job, and we do the right thing, and we let the chips fall where they may. That’s my philosophy. That’s how we’re governing.”