Taggan Goodard’s Political Wire has a short piece up — Jeffries Hasn’t Spoken to McCarthy Since Agreement — listing two news stories. First up, The HIll reports a clip from a Fox News Sunday interview with McCarthy this morning: McCarthy on debt deal: Jeffries says there’s ‘not one thing in the bill for Democrats’:
Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said Sunday that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) told him that Democrats don’t see “one thing” in the debt ceiling deal in their favor, as lawmakers on both sides blasted the framework of an agreement reached late the night before.
“Right now the Democrats are very upset,” McCarthy told anchor Shannon Bream on “Fox News Sunday.” “But one thing Hakeem told me: there’s nothing in the bill for them. There’s not one thing in the bill for Democrats.”
Then Hakeem Jeffries went on CBS’s Face the Nation and said: I have no idea what he's talking about."
(I seem to be unable to post the Twitter video; no great loss since there are plenty of other links.) Here’s what MSN reported:
Jeffries shuts down McCarthy claim that Dems are 'upset' over debt deal: 'Have not been able to review'
Jeffries later appeared on CBS News’ "Face the Nation" and said he had "no idea" what McCarthy was talking about.
"I have no idea what he's talking about, particularly because I have not been able to review the actual legislative text," Jeffries said. "All that we've reached is an agreement in principle."
"I talked to him yesterday afternoon, but I haven't talked to him since that point in time," he added.
The original story in The Hill does include this part:
A source close to McCarthy later told The Hill that he “misspoke that it was Jeffries said that to him, but that other Democrats have told him as much.”
Later at the Capitol, McCarthy appeared to walk back his remarks about Jeffries, telling reporters “there’s a lot in here for both sides.”
(So far, I haven’t seen any follow-up on Fox, but I really didn’t look too hard.)
So, what gives? Granted, McCarthy is inept enough to make up a quote that he should have known would be quickly refuted. It is just possible that he knew it was a false quote, but that by saying it on Fox News he would make it appear that he had won the debt negotiations — and presumably make it easier for his caucus to swallow. But if that were the case, you’d think he would get Jefffies on board first so as not to give the game away. On the third (or whatever) hand, the Squeaker may have figured he was only talking to his base, which wasn’t going to listen to anything Jeffries has to say anyway.
Or, most likely, he’s just inept.
I will give him this much: If he does succeed in getting his caucus (or enough of them) to go along with the debt deal, thereby saving the global economy, and then loses the Squeakership over it, I will at least offer a slight nod of approval in his direction for having, just barely, put the good of the country over his own ambition. This is in the same spirit as Winston Churchill’s remark that if Hitler were to invade hell, he, Churchill, would at least make a passing remark in the devil’s favor in the House of Commons.