Fox News personality Trey Gowdy—who previously served South Carolina in the House of Representatives until he retired in 2019—dragged election-denying Republicans who have refused to back House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy for the Speaker position once the GOP takes control of the new Congress in January.
Gowdy noted McCarthy won 85 percent of the vote for the nomination—but still has to contend with resistance that could divert votes ahead of the January floor election.
He went on to lambast the "small band of Republican kamikazes" who have backed former Republican President Donald Trump's "Big Lie" that the 2020 general election was stolen but refuse to support McCarthy despite the fact he won an overwhelming majority.
It was a surprisingly blunt take on a network that has been largely responsible for the dissemination of Trump's lies about the integrity of the electoral process.
You can hear what Gowdy said in the video below.
Gowdy said:
“Rather than coalescing around a legislative or investigative agenda, House Republicans are fighting with themselves over who will be the speaker. Yes, your memory is correct. The primary for speaker was a month ago."
"Kevin McCarthy won with 85% of the vote. But a small yet vocal group of House Republicans will not support the winner of the primary.”
“So much for elections having consequences or respecting the will of the people or whatever platitudes uttered but only when convenient."
"This small band of Republican kamikazes are convinced Donald Trump won the presidency in 2020 with 47% of the vote yet somehow Kevin McCarthy lost the speaker’s race with 85% of the vote.”
"Math never was their strong suit."
Many have echoed Gowdy's concerns while offering their own criticisms of Fox News' coverage.
Last month, McCarthy did indeed win the Republican nomination to be House Speaker, but the GOP's disappointing midterm elections performance forced him to "scramble much harder than anticipated to keep his caucus united and behind him," according to The Los Angeles Times.
The newspaper noted that McCarthy will face "a difficult road" ahead if he aims to address schisms within the party. He has continued to court the GOP's most conservative factions, including supporters of former President Trump.
McCarthy himself was until fairly recently a very vocal election denier and spent weeks ahead of the January 6 insurrection—the day a mob of Trump's supporters attacked the nation's seat of government on the false premise the 2020 election had been stolen—undermining the electoral process, vowing not to certify Democratic President Joe Biden's election win.
He also lied about calling for Trump to resign—even after an audio recording revealed he had done just that—and later famously reconciled with the former President at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate.
