MTG Defies The Swamp: "McCarthy Doesn't Have the Votes to Become House Speaker"
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy currently "doesn't have the votes" to become speaker if Republicans take back control of the chamber in the 2022 midterms.
The Georgia Republican spoke about McCarthy's future prospects while appearing on the latest episode of Rep. Matt Gaetz's "Firebrand" podcast published Thursday.
"Right now, we know that Kevin McCarthy has a problem in our [Republican] conference. He doesn't have the full support to be speaker," Greene told colleague Gaetz, R-Fla. "I think there's a door open for a challenger."
Greene was asked if she respected McCarthy, R-Calif., and the rest of the House GOP leadership.
"I can't respect leadership that doesn't hold people accountable but yet allows people like me and [Rep.] Paul Gosar to be constantly trampled and abused and will throw us under the bus at the first given chance," she said.
Greene in early February was removed from both of her committees after Democrats said she had spread hateful and violent conspiracy theories. The House on Nov. 17 voted to censure Gosar, R-Ariz., and stripped him of his committee assignments for posting an animated video that depicted him killing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., with a sword
"[McCarthy] doesn't have the votes [to become speaker] that are there because there's many of use that are very unhappy about the failure to hold Republicans accountable while conservatives like me, Paul Gosar, and many others just constantly take the abuse by the Democrats," Greene said.
A strong supporter of former President Donald Trump, Greene said that to earn her support, McCarthy would need to boot anti-Trump Republicans and "traitors" Reps. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., and Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., from the House GOP conference.
WATCH 'FIREBRAND with Matt Gaetz' Episode 17 w/ Rep. Marjorie Greene Taylor
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