Watch– Breitbart’s Joel Pollak on FOX LA: House Speaker Battle a ‘Disaster for Republicans’
Breitbart News editor-at-large Joel Pollak recently appeared on FOX 11 in Los Angeles to discuss the latest battle in Congress over the next Republican speaker of the House.
Appearing alongside Democrat adviser Brian Goldsmith, Joel Pollak addressed some of the motives behind the opposition to Republican Kevin McCarthy’s bid for House speaker, a position he finally clinched after 15 ballots and multiple rounds of negotiations with the 20 Freedom Caucus Republicans who opposed him, a.k.a. “The Rebels.”
“They’re frustrated with the party establishment. They’re frustrated with Washington. They don’t trust the Republican Party leadership, and they’re really angry about the omnibus spending bill that passed last year in the closing weeks, and this is how they’re expressing it,” Pollak said in summarizing the rebel motives. They feel nobody listens to them; there’s no debate unless they stage some kind of rebellion or revolt.”
Despite that, Pollak said he did not agree that the battle over Kevin McCarthy’s speakership was the correct forum to stage a rebellion against the establishment due to the fact that House Republicans have a “more conservative caucus” this time around.
Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) leaves the House chamber after the House voted to adjourn for the evening as the House met for a third day to elect a speaker and convene the 118th Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
“They’re really picking a fight with the leadership just to pick a fight,” said Pollak. “There aren’t any policy or ideological differences between the mainstream of the Republican Party and this faction — this is largely about personalities. And if you want to be charitable, it’s about a general sense of frustration with Republican leaders.”
Brian Goldsmith had a less-than-charitable summation of the fight, saying it stems from the “entertainment wing of the party that is much more focused on clicks and hits and profiting from conflict in Washington.”
As to the overall implications, Pollak called the fight a “disaster,” saying that it signaled to the average voter that Republicans have no interest in governing by wasting a week on picking a House speaker instead of focusing on the key issues: border security, inflation, oversight, etc.
“The Rebels have made it much more difficult for Republicans to govern,” said Pollak. “They have weakened the Republican Caucus in Washington and the Democrats are sitting back and enjoying the show. Not only are they frustrating Kevin McCarthy’s legislative agenda, but they’re sending a message to voters.”
“Both parties are sending a message to voters: Republicans are not serious about governing. This is a disaster for Republicans. The people that voted them into office — the voters — wanted to see action on the border, they wanted to see action on spending, they wanted to see action on inflation, and they’re not seeing any of that,” he added.
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