Barely House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is starting to crack under the pressure, and stressed Kevin McCarthy is a complete asshole. Watch him respond to questions about his blocking Intelligence Committee slots for Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell. This isn’t how you make friends in the Capitol Hill press corps, Kev.
Before the clip starts, he’s asked about when he’s going to deal with fabulist George Santos, and we get the tail end of his answer, that when/if it “rises to a legal level, we’ll deal with it then.” Then there’s the pivot by a reporter who starts to ask about the Schiff/Swalwell news, but McCarthy doesn’t even let her ask the question before going into a snarling and prolonged attack.
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“Intel committee,” he snaps, continuing to talk over the reporter. “Is Santos on the Intel committee? Am I allowing Schiff to be on other committees?” Then look at the “aren’t I clever” smirk on his face as he finally allows the reporter to continue. “Go right ahead,” he smarms.
She attempts to continue to ask about the double standard of Santos getting committee assignments. “You have said that lying to us (the press) is something that means he [Schiff] should be removed from the Intelligence Committee. Why is it not a factor … “ and McCarthy jumps in. The reporter continues “ … this is a man who should not be on committees, something you do have power over.”
“He’s got elected by his district,” McCarthy starts (which last time anyone checked, so did Schiff and Swalwell), and the reporter interrupts. “That’s not the answer to my question. Why is lying …” and then McCarthy really goes off, speaking over her and not allowing her to finish.
“Let me be very clear and respectful to you. You asked me a question. When I answer it, it’s the answer to your question. You don’t get to determine whether I answer your question or not, okay? In all respect.”
Read, there was no respect. The rest of the clip is McCarthy continuing to push the completely debunked lies about the threat Schiff and Swalwell pose to national security. Meanwhile, he’s put his very good friend from QAnon, insurrectionist Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, on the Homeland Security Committee, a point no reporter had the ability to bring up since he frothed at the mouth for the next three minutes, not allowing a question.
This tells us a couple of things. One is that he is definitely sweating the George Santos situation and that is definitely something Democrats and the press need to keep hammering him on. Two, he’s very quickly making the press an enemy, which brings us back to point one: Make him own George Santos.
Markos and Kerry are joined by University of St. Andrews Professor of Strategic Studies, Phillips P. O’Brien. O’Brien, an expert in military history, explains how we got to where we are right now, what is unique about the world’s reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the parallels between the conservative movement’s isolationism in World War II and now.