Kevin McCarthy flames out in spectacularly humiliating fashion
Kevin McCarthy only rose to his current leadership position in the Republican House because he figured out Donald Trump’s favorite color of Starburst candy. The fact that this is a true story explains a lot about McCarthy, and his spectacularly humiliating display of… whatever that was last night.
Even as the House prepared to pass the Build Back Better legislation – the other half of President Biden’s infrastructure package – McCarthy used his position as House Minority Leader to carry out a de facto filibuster. He began ranting and raving against the bill for hours on end, saying nothing and flailing badly. Halfway through the night, long after it was clear that the vote wouldn’t take place until the next day, he was still talking. Speaker Pelosi put out a statement that literally said “Is Kevin McCarthy OK?” – and several hours later, he was still talking.
We’ve all seen filibusters before (or whatever the proper term is for when the Minority Leader does the same thing in the House). But what made this different is that it was making no impact whatsoever. It’s not going to keep the legislation from passing today. It’s not going to change a single mind out there. And because there isn’t really the kind of rabid public opposition to this bill that the Republicans wish there were, no one was even watching. Except, that is, for Donald Trump.
Because Kevin McCarthy’s entire career in House leadership up to this point has been dependent upon kissing Trump’s backside, it’s the only thing McCarthy can think of to do, even this far past Trump’s expiration date. The kicker is that even Trump was probably watching McCarthy humiliate himself tonight, and thinking “That guy is too much of a [fill in the blank] to ever be Speaker of the House.” These things never end well for Trump’s sycophants. McCarthy hasn’t yet learned that.
