MSNBC’s Jen Psaki isn’t buying House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) purported anxiety that Republican hard-liners are risking a government shutdown ― as soon as Oct. 1.
McCarthy last week lamented: “This is a whole new concept of individuals that just want to burn the whole place down.”
“Really?” Psaki asked on Sunday. “It’s a ‘whole new concept that certain Republicans want to burn the place down?’ Well, do I have news for you Speaker McCarthy, if you have been sleeping for the last couple of years. The building has been on fire for years.”
Watch the video here:
.@jrpsaki: “Even if Trump is pulling the strings behind the curtain… Mr. McCarthy, you are Speaker of this House. It is your job to fix it, to put out the fire. The big question now, less than a week away from a potential government shutdown is whether you can do the job.” pic.twitter.com/oaO2hh18tP
— Inside with Jen Psaki (@InsideWithPsaki) September 24, 2023
Republicans were responsible for government shutdowns in 2013 and 2018/19, Psaki noted. “And if we really want to talk about burning the whole House down when the actual Capitol building was under attack by a bunch of insurrectionists, Kevin McCarthy and the majority of his party simply waved it off and pledged loyalty to the architect of that chaos, Donald Trump.”
Former President Donald Trump is “effectively running the House” and “pulling the strings,” said Psaki.
But it was the job of McCarthy, who she said sold his soul to the extreme right-wing of his party for the speakership, “to fix it, to put out the fire.”
“The big question now, less than a week away from a potential government shutdown, is whether you can do the job,” she concluded.
