WATCH: Congress LAUGHS at Kevin McCarthy Calling Jim Jordan ‘An Effective Legislator’
Kevin McCarthy likely didn’t intend to elicit congressional laughter when calling Jim Jordan an “effective legislator,” but he did.
The former House Speaker — forced out of the senior role over two weeks ago— took the House floor to introduce Jordan as the Republican nominee for Speaker of the House for a third attempt after two previous votes failed.
Jordan is well-known within the halls of the Capitol building for fighting tooth and nail for his Freedom Caucus agenda. He is considered a loyal acolyte to Trumpism and, just earlier Friday morning, refused to dismiss the baseless claims that the 2020 election was stolen. He also has a “remarkably thin” legislative record, as noted by The Washington Post’s Aaron Blake.
So it is in this context that McCarthy’s lauding of Jordan’s legislative record elicited audible laughter from the People’s House, almost certainly coming from the Democratic side of the aisle.
“I can already tell you what my friends on the other side will say using their poll-tested phrases,” McCarthy preemptively struck at eventual Democratic criticism. “But let me correct the record. Jim Jordan is an effective legislator.”
Laughter could then be heard.
“To legislate is about more than the name on the bill,” McCarthy continued. “It’s about reaching a compromise and working long hours behind the scenes to get the job done.”
Again, this comment left the room in such shambles of decorum that Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry was forced to call to order.
It’s not clear what compromise Jim Jordan reached that McCarthy referenced here. But the facts don’t matter. It’s all a show.
And that, my friends, is where we are.
Watch above via Fox News.
