On the lawn of the White House on Wednesday, President Joe Biden informed reporters that the House speaker election had degenerated into an embarrassing situation.
Biden told reporters, “I simply think it’s extremely embarrassing that it’s taking so long. Everyone is watching. Our team needs to come together. I’m concentrating on getting things done.”
Biden was asked by Fox News’ Peter Doocy if he was enjoying the GOP public discussion.
He retorted, “It’s not a good appearance, not a good thing. I hope they get their act together because this is the United States of America.”
Biden was also questioned by reporters about the potential speaker.
Biden answered, “I don’t know.”
The House will meet on Wednesday at noon to conduct a fourth round of voting. There will be more voting rounds until a politician receives the required number of votes to pass. Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) fell 16 votes short of the required number on Tuesday. McCarthy was opposed by 20 Republican lawmakers or about 10% of the Republican House majority.
“Is today the day that I was hoping for?” McCarthy said to media following the vote on Tuesday, “No. No one has ever tried to become speaker for the first time with this kind of tenuous majority even if you go back 70 years.”
On Wednesday morning, former president Donald Trump again praised McCarthy. After Trump seemed uncommitted the day before, the endorsement came.
“REPUBLICANS, DON’T MAKE A GREAT TRIUMPH INTO A GIGANTIC AND EMBARRASSING DEFEAT. You deserve to celebrate,” he added, “therefore NOW IS THE TIME. Just watch! Kevin McCarthy will perform an excellent job, maybe even a GREAT JOB.”
