House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is knocking a reporter for asking an “inappropriate” question about his bid to be the next speaker.
During a press conference on Wednesday, CNN’s Manu Raju asked the California Republican about his apparent struggle to lock in the 218 votes necessary to become speaker.
“Why has it been so hard for you to get 218 votes to become speaker when you have President Trump, apparently, lobbying on your behalf. You’ve been meeting with members of the Freedom Caucus but the votes just aren’t there. Why is it so hard for you?” he asked.
McCarthy shot back, “Have you spent any time with my conference?”
“You know what’s amazing to me? Here we are with the most important thing on spending, and I can always count on you for the most inappropriate question,” he added.
McCarthy then moved on to another reporter.
Watch the video below:
CNN’s @mkraju: “Why has it been so hard for you to get 218 votes to become Speaker when you have President Trump, apparently, lobbying on your behalf?”
— The Recount (@therecount) December 14, 2022
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy: “I can always count on you for the most inappropriate question.” pic.twitter.com/E0NFk1mIiK
McCarthy is aiming to become the speaker when Republicans will be in the majority in the House.
However, he has apparently struggled to win the support of the 218 lawmakers.
Former President Donald Trump has reportedly been calling lawmakers to urge them to vote for McCarthy.
The New York Times notes Trump “has had little success to date in moving lawmakers over to Mr. McCarthy’s side.”
“Mr. Trump, according to people close to him, is not entirely sold on the notion of Mr. McCarthy as a strong speaker,” it explained. “But he considers Mr. McCarthy better than the alternative, including improbable scenarios in which the job instead might go to a moderate who can draw some votes from Democrats, or in which a handful of Republicans defect and help to elect a Democratic speaker.”
Still, McCarthy has voiced optimism that he will be able to secure the votes required to be speaker by Jan. 3 when the vote will take place.
