Kevin McCarthy Thought Dems Would Help Him Win, to Which AOC Said ‘Absolutely Not’

If you were on Twitter Tuesday during the shitshow that was Republicans failing to choose a Speaker of the House, you likely saw strange-looking interactions between the far-right Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Paul Gosar (R-AZ) and progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY). They happened during the three failed votes to elect Rep. Kevin McCarthy (CA) as speaker. Gaetz and Gosar were among the nearly two dozen Republicans to vote for someone other than McCarthy.

It was nice for some to think that Gosar and AOC could be reveling in the chaos of McCarthy’s embarrassing day, but the conversation with Gaetz didn’t look so jokey. So Ocasio-Cortez told The Intercept what was actually going on there, and wouldn’t you know it, it’s even more pathetic news for McCarthy.

Before getting into what she said, let’s back up on the mechanics of voting in the House: The House has 435 members and McCarthy needed the majority of everyone in the chamber who voted yes or no. That would be 218 votes if everyone was there—and if no one cast a “present” vote, which doesn’t count for either side. (Some members of Congress use present votes to protest legislation their party is pursuing.)

The conversation we witnessed was Gaetz informing AOC that McCarthy had been telling his colleagues he’d be able to cut a deal with Democrats to vote “present,” thereby lowering the number of yes votes he needed to win, she told the outlet. She told Gaetz that would definitely not be happening and even checked with leadership to confirm it.

“McCarthy was suggesting he could get Dems to walk away to lower his threshold,” Ocasio-Cortez told The Intercept. “And I fact checked and said absolutely not.”

And wouldn’t you know it, in all three rounds, every Democrat voted yes for Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (NY), with no one voting “present.” Such unanimous support for a Democratic House leader hasn’t happened since 2007 (though since Republicans control the House, Jeffries is set to become Minority Leader, not Speaker).

So it appears McCarthy bluffed in an attempt to make his Republican critics think their resistance was futile, and it blew up in his face. Hope everyone has their popcorn ready for day two of this mess.