Gaetz: Hakeem Jeffries Not Really in Charge of Democrats, He’s Just the ‘Frontman.’ Plus: 20 RINOs Vote Against Jordan on Tuesday

GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida argued Sunday that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is just a “frontman” for former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

This from survivethenews.com.

The subject came up during an interview on Newsmax in the context of reports some House Republicans were looking to strike a deal with the Left in order to elect a House speaker other than Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio.

Gaetz said he is surprised that backing Jordan is a difficult decision for some Republican lawmakers.

The congressman explained the reason Kevin McCarthy is no longer speaker is because he had lost the trust of a group of members of the Republican conference due to not living up to the agreements he made in January to secure the position.

Gaetz said:

I think Jim Jordan has a lot of trust among conservative Republicans, more moderate Republicans.

He’s one of our most effective campaigners and fundraisers. He is a man of vision and courage and virtue.

He continued:

And the only reason we aren’t taking a vote on Jim Jordan tomorrow is because the swamp wants an opportunity to regroup and reconstitute and threaten House conservatives that if we don’t take back Kevin McCarthy, like some jilted ex, somehow we’re going to be forced into a deal with Democrats that empowers Hakeem Jeffries and Republicans who might want to do that deal with Democrats.

Further:

We should not go backward to Kevin McCarthy. We should go forward with Jim Jordan.

The representative next contended that Pelosi is still the one really in charge of Democrats, behind the scenes.

Gaetz said:

Nancy Pelosi rules with an iron fist. And by the way, she’s still the one in charge of that conference.

I mean, Hakeem Jeffries is the frontman, but the person that’s really calling the shots among the Democrats is Nancy Pelosi.

He added:

She’s the one who made the decision that they didn’t want to own McCarthy, and that’s why they didn’t support him on my motion to vacate.

In other words, if even some of the Left had voted against the motion to vacate the speaker chair, it would have appeared they were saving McCarthy’s job.

NOTE: On October 3rd, Gaetz, along with seven other Republicans, joined all the House communists/globalists to remove McCarthy as speaker. The final vote was 216-210.

Gaetz observed:

As Republicans, our general nature is to be more independent-minded, to be more independent thinking [than the Left].

He explained:

We question centralized control of things as a natural part of our ideology, so we’re a little bit more unruly at times, but I think that the American people want to see some unruliness in Washington, D.C.

The following from redstate.com.

Jim Jordan went into Tuesday’s vote for the next Speaker of the House knowing that at least twelve of his RINO/Republican colleagues were unlikely to support him in the first round of voting.

As it turned out, twenty RINOs threw their support behind undeclared candidates.

Here’s the breakdown.

Votes for Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the ousted Speaker of the House:

• Don Bacon (R-NE)
• Chavez-DeRemer (R-OR)
• Carlos Giménez (R-FL)
• Jen Kiggans (R-VA)
• Mike Lawler (R-NY)
• Doug LaMalfa (R-CA)

Votes for Rep. Steve Scalise, who removed himself from the speaker’s race last week:

• Mario Díaz-Balart (R-FL)
• Tony Gonzales (R-TX)
• Kay Granger (R-TX)
• Mike Kelly (R-PA)
• John Rutherford (R-FL)
• Mike Simpson (R-ID)
• Steve Womack (R-AR)

Votes for Lee Zeldin, former member of Congress:

• Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY)
• Andrew Garbarino (R-NY)
• Nick LaLota (R-NY)

Votes for Rep. Mike Garcia:

• Jake Ellzey (R-TX)

Votes for Rep. Tom Emmer:

• Ken Buck (R-CO)

Votes for Rep. Tom Cole:

• John James (R-MI)

Votes for Rep. Thomas Massie:

• Victoria Spartz (R-IN)

The full breakdown of the first ballot shows House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries leading Jordan in total votes:

During a Monday Fox News interview, McCarthy himself said the GOP conference should back Jordan.

He said:

My focus is to get Jim Jordan elected speaker. Get this congress back moving again.

Final thought: Damn RINOs. But at least they didn’t vote for Jeffries. Imagine, with him as Speaker-in-Name-Only, a third time for drunken Nancy could be another charm America doesn’t want.