CNN anchor Chris Wallace said Thursday on CBS’s “The Late Show” that Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) repeated failed attempts to win the speakership would not have happened under the leadership of Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).
Partial transcript as follows:
COLBERT: Now, Chris, it’s so lovely to have you here. Because what I more want on on day three of Kevin McCarthageddon, as Have you ever seen anything like this?
WALLACE: As you called it in your monologue, Christmas for Stevie, you you could not be happier, could you?
COLBERT: Um no. Birth of my children and this.
WALLACE: We literally do not have one-half of one-third of the government in operation. And for you, it is. Look at you. You’re just, you’re just beside yourself.
COLBERT: Well, it just says to me that there is such a thing as a God who pays attention to people like Kevin McCarthy, who are overt hypocrites, who clearly sold their soul for political power and get nothing in return. It just makes me happy that that there is such a thing as karma. How about that?
WALLACE: I have an interesting story to tell you. I came up on the train today from. That’s the end of the story. No, from. From..
COLBERT: I’m gripped so far!
WALLACE: From D.C. to New York. Yeah. When I got to New York, I happened to bump into Nancy Pelosi’s daughter.
COLBERT: Alexandra.
WALLACE: Alexandra! Exactly. Well, she’s got other daughters, but it was Alexandra.
COLBERT: I guessed.
WALLACE: In any case, we both agreed this would never have happened under Nancy Pelosi because Nancy Pelosi had one rule, which was: if you don’t have the votes, you don’t go to the floor. So they, she simply would have said, “Well, the House is in recess. We’re going to wait.” She would not have had ten votes, which is what we’re at as we speak right now. And when you go down, and incidentally, there is a possibility that they have to keep voting because they, Kevin McCarthy may not have enough votes to adjourn till tomorrow.
COLBERT: Right. Because the Democrats wanted to keep going because it’s embarrassing.
WALLACE: It’s embarrassing Kevin McCarthy and is pleasing you.
COLBERT: Exactly.
CHRIS WALLACE: And the anti-Kevin people want to please you. No that’s not true. No. But in any case, there are only 200 votes. So they may stay in there forever just voting over and over again.
STEPHEN COLBERT: Is there let’s see, is there an end game here? Do you think he’s got any plan? Because what more can you give away? They’ve reduced the size of that speaker’s chair with all the things that he’s given up and he’s like, “I’ll lop off anything to fit in that chair at this point.”
CHRIS WALLACE: Well, and look, that’s the real point. At some point, we’re going to get a speaker. And, you know, as bad as it seems right now, it’s going to be forgotten what we went through in the first week of January. But there’s going to be a Republican who’s going to be running the House. And with all of the things that Kevin McCarthy has given away, can the House do anything, for instance? They’re going to have to, at some point pass a budget to keep the government funded. They’re going to at some point have to raise the debt limit or we go into default. There’s if they can’t elect a speaker, what makes you think they’re going to be able to take the tough votes to actually keep the government in operation?
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
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