Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) might want to take a few days of personal leave from the U.S. House of Representatives, because it seems like each day brings more bad news for him and the GOP as they continue to fumble around in their search for the next speaker of the House.
This time, the criticism is coming from inside the House GOP caucus itself, as Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA) has completely excoriated Gaetz and other Republican extremists who were successful in removing former speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) from his post, but cannot manage to find a replacement that gets the required 217 votes.
In a letter dripping with sarcasm, McClintock directs his comments to Gaetz and seven other right-wing House members who booted out McCarthy despite having no plan for who would follow him.
“Dear Wayward Colleague,” the letter begins. “Your letter of October 20, in which you graciously offer to martyr yourselves as long as you can get your way, is perhaps the most selfless act in American history.”
McClintock then adds:
“Your sacrifice is not in vain. You have succeeded in replacing the outdated concept of majority rule with an exciting new standard that a Speaker must be elected by 98.2 percent of the Republican conference. Someday, a messiah will be born unto us who can achieve this miraculous threshold, and on that day your judgment will be vindicated and you will be hailed as the geniuses that you are.”
But perhaps the most hilarious and utterly sarcastic portion of the letter brings to mind the fact that Gaetz and his fellow extremists shouldn’t be taken seriously, but have to be because they’re holding the entire country hostage at a time when the United States is trying to bolster two allies, Israel and Ukraine, but no aid can be sent to those two countries because the House is in complete disarray,.
“I think we were all truly humbled to learn that your ‘fidelity to Republican virtues and principles remains unwavering.’ Who could not be moved to tears to read that you offer your self-sacrifice ‘sincerely and with the hope of unity with purpose?’
“With this in mind, I modestly suggest that you plan your martyrdom in the only way that truly matters: to have the wisdom to see the damage you have done to our country and to have the courage to set things right before it is too late. I enclose a proposed resolution that perhaps one of you can offer as we begin the fourth week of national paralysis and as the world burns around us.”
Reading the letter, it sort of makes you wonder if perhaps Tom McClintock should put his name into consideration for speaker of the House. If nothing else, his speech to the Congress would be epic and unforgettable.
Here’s the full letter, via Juilegrace Brufke of Axios:
