For almost a month now, as it became clear that Republicans would indeed win a narrow majority giving them control of the House of Representatives, there’s been endless chatter about who might be the next Speaker of the House.
The name most frequently mentioned is that of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), but many conservatives say they cannot support him because he’s not right-wing enough or willing to bend to their extremist will.
Surprisingly, Georgia GOP Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene says she supports McCarthy, which has confounded some pundits since she’s also a hardcore right-wing nutjob.
But according to former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele, whoever winds up as Speaker will have to give a great deal of their power to Greene.
Appearing on MSNBC Friday, Steele noted:
“The media and others still want to focus on the man and, you know, what he’s trying to do, what he’s trying to say — we’re past that. I’m now looking at where the party leadership is trying to move itself, and the more telling thing for me was not the dinner that Donald Trump had with [Nick] Fuentes and Kanye [West]. It was the lack of response from political wannabes, who want to be president, the governor of Florida, which I still don’t think he’s put a statement out on that. The leadership of the party, ‘Oh, we don’t like antisemitism,’ without saying that the anti-Semitic former president is the case to be made against, and to draw that very bright line and say this is not who we are, nor is it who we want to be.”
Then came the warning about Greene:
“That small fraction of the party still has political, financial and other sway and control over the leadership. Marjorie Taylor Greene will be the most powerful Speaker of the House because she will have the opportunity to control what comes out of Kevin’s mouth around the things that matter to that small cadre.”
A panelist asked Steele if he thought Greene might actually wind up being Speaker, to which he responded:
“I just call the thing what it is.You call it shadow, I call it the thing. It’s the job, because what you can’t make that separation, when she is — you’re dragging her to your events and propping her up, telling her we’re going to put you back in committee, we’re going to give you a powerful leadership role. Come on.”
