NEWT:
Well, I think, first of all, you’d have to have a totally different approach. We shouldn’t underestimate how bad what Matt Gaetz did was for the whole system. He unleashed the demons. He he went after somebody who had raised $480 million, had gained seats for three elections in a row, and he drove Kevin McCarthy out of office. And from that point on, it has been a disaster. I don’t blame Johnson. I think Johnson has a hand Speaker Johnson has a hand that’s virtually impossible to play. And that’s where I think some of the people just make it worse. This is the best argument I’ve seen for why we need not only to elect Donald Trump, but to elect a very large majority with him. When I was speaker, I had a lot more ability than than Johnson did to run the House because I had a big enough majority. You could have five or ten people who were crazy and you could still govern. He doesn’t have a one vote majority. The fact is there are eight or ten or twelve people who are going to get up every morning voting no. The truth is they don’t even know what they’re voting on. All they know when they wake up in the morning is I’m going to be a no today. So he really has no majority at all. You have to decide. Sooner or later, you’re going to realize the bills have been worse since McCarthy was gone. The Democrats are in greater control and the hard liners on the right have done nothing except make it worse. Now, the Freedom Caucus right now has been a disaster in public policy terms. If you think your job in life is to grandstand and complain while the other team runs over you, they’re doing a great job.
NEWT:
Well, it’s ridiculous. It’s also historically a disaster for the country. I think it’s important to remember that even though Johnson has a narrow majority, it’s a majority big enough to keep the Republicans in charge of the Judiciary Committee, in charge of the Oversight Committee, in charge of all these different efforts to investigate and to do things. And if Hakeem Jeffries becomes speaker all that ends overnight. And I’ll just tell you, I’m equally disappointed in the people who are leaving and in the people who are destructive and have no positive solutions and I have no greater respect for them, you know, you can have a temper tantrum is not particularly more helpful than going home.
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