Austin Scott first announced his candidacy earlier this month shortly after Scalise bowed out of the race, mostly to be a ~protest candidate~ against Jim Jordan. “When I woke up this morning, I had no intentions of doing this. It took me a long time to even get to my wife to tell her to call all our friends and be in prayer because we haven’t done any preparation or any whipping or anything for this,” he told reporters upon entering the Speaker race. I have to wonder: What, exactly, are all his friends supposed to pray for—for House Republicans to magically become serious people overnight???
Scott is regarded by legacy media as a more “mainstream” Republican, though you should take this with a grain of salt because any Republican who isn’t Matt Gaetz or Majorie Taylor Greene is considered “mainstream” these days. Alongside Emmer, he’s one of two candidates who actually voted to certify the 2020 presidential election. More recently, Scott has been vocally critical of how directionless his caucus is sans a House Speaker, telling CNN on Thursday that their inability to pick a leader “makes us look like a bunch of idiots.” Of course, the race would probably go at least a little smoother were it not for the nine-fucking-candidates—an issue that Scott’s long-shot bid incidentally contributes to!
