Whether he intended to or not, he just did.
“House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said Thursday that he would reinstate Reps. Paul Gosar of Arizona and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia on committees — potentially even ‘better’ ones — if Republicans win back the House after next year’s midterms,” CNN reported on Thursday, November 18, 2021 (story here).
Gosar and Greene were sanctioned by the House for espousing political violence against Democratic politicians. Most House Republicans voted against the punishment. Promoting them to “better” committees obviously isn’t punishing them, either. (And lest we forget, a majority of House Republicans voted against certifying the 2020 election, effectively giving the middle finger to 81 million Americans; and they downplayed the January 6 violence, too.)
The GOP doesn’t have a reputation left to lose, so McCarthy might as well go for it. And he is. He said Greene “has a right to serve on committees” and also “hinted that a GOP majority may kick some House Democrats off their committee seats.” He specifically mentioned Reps. Maxine Waters of California, Adam Schiff of California, Eric Swalwell of California, and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota.
CNN added, “At his news conference, McCarthy bristled at the suggestion that the GOP is only willing to punish members of their conference who defy Donald Trump,” which in fact his caucus has done.
“He disputed the idea that Republican Rep. Liz Cheney — who was booted from the GOP leadership for calling out Trump’s election lies — was punished, saying she just ‘lost an election.'” He conveniently neglected to mention Cheney’s expulsion from the Wyoming GOP, which was straight-up retaliation for lack of loyalty to the party’s violent agenda.
McCarthy danced with words, but his comments will strike many people as a threat of more retaliation to come. Not that it makes any difference. After January 6, everybody knows what the GOP stands for.
Photo: GOP House leader Kevin McCarthy