Kevin McCarthy Steams at Dissenters Seeking ‘Positions for Themselves, Not For the Country’ in Perilous Speakership Fight

Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) vented against his fellow Republicans for imperiling his House Speaker bid with their ongoing refusal to support him.

McCarthy spoke to reporters on Tuesday after his heated closed-door conference with Republican House members — including the handful who stand in the way of the 218 votes he needs to secure the speakership. The inner-GOP revolt marks a chaotic start to the 118th session of Congress, and McCarthy’s frustrations boiled over as he spoke about the “intense conference” and the political position he’s now facing.

“There’s times we’re gonna have to argue with our own members if they’re looking for only positions for themselves, not for the country,” McCarthy said. “For the last two months, we worked together as a whole conference to develop rules that empower all members. But we’re not empowering certain members over others.”

As McCarthy described his attempts to negotiate with those withholding their votes for him, he called out Matt Gaetz (R-FL) in particular for threatening to take the House Speaker vote to a plurality. Thus, McCarthy accused Gaetz of wanting to see House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) be Speaker instead of him.

“That is not about America,” McCarthy said. “I will always fight to put the American people first, not a few individuals that want something for themselves. We may have a battle on the floor, but it’s for the conference and the country, and that is fine with me.”

The scrum went on as McCarthy briefly skirmished with reporters on how he can get the math to change if he can’t secure 218 votes.

Watch above via CSPAN.