Democrats are sick of bailing the GOP out of their own messes, and boy, are Republicans whining about it
Anyone who has paid even the slightest attention to the events leading up to the historic ouster of Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., as speaker of the House knows exactly who is to blame here: McCarthy and his fellow Republicans. For years, they’ve rolled out the welcome mat to Donald Trump and his wrecking crew of MAGA camera hogs, foolishly believing that they could harness the chaotic villainy without getting burned in the process. They refused to listen to former Trump “fixer” Michael Cohen when he warned Republicans in 2019 that those who “follow Mr. Trump as I did, blindly, are going to suffer the same consequences that I’m suffering.”
Granted, McCarthy didn’t get hauled off to prison like Cohen. But he still faced a tasty comeuppance this week when the sadistic bullies he empowered in his caucus, led by Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, vacated his seat for no other reason than the sheer satisfaction of taking out their leader. Now shellshocked Republicans know who they want to blame for everything that has happened, and — surprise! — it’s not themselves. Oh no, they’re mad at Democrats for refusing to swoop in and save McCarthy from his fate.
Despite my pointing out the rule, I do actually agree with your research.
If you saw parts of the Impeachment investigation clown show that the House GOP put on, you’ll see the GOP repeatedly flouting the rules, and Democrats calling them out for it. For example, IIRC Jamie Raskin pointed out that it goes against House rules to impugn the president’s character, for example, they were calling him a liar, on the floor of the House, except in an impeachment inquiry. And that they weren’t allowed to have an actual impeachment inquiry without a vote. These are both House rules. He was overruled by the chair with an explanation along the lines of “This meeting is to investigate Biden, so those comments can be allowed.” Which obviously goes against the rules of the House.
My real, true hope for the rule is that it gives everybody an excuse to do what they want to do, anyways. I think very few people actually want Trump to be Speaker. I think even Trump doesn’t really actually want the job. It’s similar to the Presidency. He probably wants to be chosen, but in reality, he doesn’t want to do the work. And he’s happiest if he doesn’t get the job, and can whine and complain that the system has been rigged against him.
The position of Speaker is all procedure. You have to attend these long boring meetings. You have to know the rules. You have to read the rules and procedures aloud from a book in front of you. Let’s not forget that Trump is functionally illiterate. If he tried to actually perform that role, it might be massively embarrassing for him. He also wouldn’t have time to perform the role. So if he was elected Speaker, I think he would basically hold the role in absentia.
So I agree it’s possible that Trump is the next Speaker, but my hope is that the rule gives everybody a reason not to choose Trump.
Conspiracy theorists will claim that it was all determined long ago and they started indicting Trump to prevent him from becoming Speaker.