(GoRealNewsNow.com) – In a rare turn of events, conservative Republican U.S. Representative Matt Gaetz and his radical-left colleague U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez see eye to eye on one issue – they both vow to vote to dethrone United States House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
The Gaetz – AOC agreement emerged on Sunday as they spoke one after the other on the CNN program “State of the Union.”
You can watch a video of her comments below.
Gaetz (R-FL) was interviewed first, declaring that this week, he would file a motion to vacate against the Republican House speaker.
Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) spoke after him on the show and stated she would support his anti-McCarthy motion.
Gaetz’s declaration that he would move to dethrone his fellow Republican Speaker came a day after McCarthy supported a bipartisan continuing resolution that prevented a government shutdown at the last minute.
The legislation was supported by all but one Democrat, while 90 Republican representatives, Gaetz included, voted against it.
Asked by CNN host Jake Tapper how she would vote on the Florida lawmaker’s motion to vacate, AOC blasted McCarthy as a “weak Speaker.”
“Would I cast that vote? Absolutely. Absolutely. I think Kevin McCarthy is a very weak speaker. He clearly has lost control of his caucus,” the leftist congresswoman said.
She added the Democrats were not responsible for “sav[ing] Republicans, from themselves, especially.”
In her words, her party is highly unlikely to save the job of a GOP speaker unless there were meaningful talks and concessions from the other side of the aisle.
“I don’t think we give up votes for free,” AOC quipped, adding she would like to see House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) as Speaker.
She also blasted McCarthy for delaying the continuing resolution “until the final hour” to prevent a shutdown – and only put it off for 45 days.
“The only way that McCarthy will be Speaker of the House is if Democrats bail him out. Now they probably will. If Democrats want to own Kevin McCarthy by bailing him out, I can’t stop them, but then he’ll be their Speaker, not mine,” Gaetz had stated on CNN before her.
Meanwhile, in a CBS interview on Sunday, the Speaker vowed to survive his colleague’s motion to vacate against him.
“Bring it on! Let’s get over with it, and let’s start governing,” McCarthy said.
AOC on CNN says she'd "absolutely" vote to oust McCarthy as speaker pic.twitter.com/Cl2ECx99jt
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 1, 2023