MSNBC panel left in stitches after ex-GOP congressman touts Kevin McCarthy’s return as Speaker
Share:
‘I could see Donald Trump getting behind Kevin McCarthy. What a wonderful turn that would be,’ Joe Walsh told a panel on The Weekend. Former Illinois Representative Joe Walsh left an MSNBC panel in fits of laughter after suggesting that Donald Trump and the Republican Party could “get behind” Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker.
![[Former Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy, was attacked by Trump on Sunday over his 2023 debt extension deal]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2023/12/06/16/Election_2024_House_McCarthy_61838.jpg)
The lower chamber will convene to select its new leader on Friday and, with the GOP holding a slim 219 to 215 majority, embattled Speaker Mike Johnson can only afford one party defection to keep the job. Joining several Republicans voicing opposition to Johnson after Congress passed a bill cementing the extension of the debt ceiling earlier this month, Walsh threw his weight behind former Speaker McCarthy to return to the role after he was ousted by the hard-right in October last year.
Opening the segment on Sunday’s episode of The Weekend, co-host Symone Sanders claimed that Johnson’s prospects of keeping the role are bleak. “So he’s got some real issues. But Michael puts the real question on the table. If not Mike Johnson, then who?,” she said.
“Kevin McCarthy,” Walsh chimed in without hesitation leaving the panel of five in silence before co-host Michael Steele placed his head in his hands, unable to contain his laughter. Walsh suggested that the president-elect may also back McCarthy’s return to lead the House.
