President Joe Biden told reporters Wednesday on the White House lawn that the House speakership race has become an embarrassment.
“I just think it’s really embarrassing it’s taking so long,” Biden told reporters. “The world’s watching. … We need to get our act together. … What I’m focused on is getting things done.”
Fox News’s Peter Doocy asked Biden if he is enjoying the GOP public debate.
“It’s not a good look, not a good thing,” he replied. “This is the United States of America and I hope they get their act together.”
Reporters also asked Biden who he thought will become speaker.
“I have no idea,” Biden said.
Wednesday at noon the House will convene for a fourth round of voting. The rounds of voting will continue until a lawmaker secures enough votes to meet the threshold. On Tuesday, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was 16 votes shy of the threshold. Twenty GOP lawmakers, about 10 percent of the Republican House majority, opposed McCarthy.
“Today, is it the day I wanted to have? No,” McCarthy told reporters after Tuesday’s voting. “If you look at the last 70 years, no one has ever had this slim of a majority to try to become speaker for the first time.”
Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday morning issued a second endorsement of McCarthy. The endorsement came after Trump appeared non-committal the day before.
“REPUBLICANS, DO NOT TURN A GREAT TRIUMPH INTO A GIANT & EMBARRASSING DEFEAT. IT’S TIME TO CELEBRATE, YOU DESERVE IT,” he said. “Kevin McCarthy will do a good job, and maybe even a GREAT JOB – JUST WATCH!”
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.