To the surprise of no one, MSNBC ran to find the nearest token Republicans it could after shocking news that House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) dropped out of Speaker of the House race and once such person was MSNBC political analyst and former 2008 McCain campaign adviser Steve Schmidt, who railed against the GOP for “hunting heretics” and not “converts.”
Asked by breaking news anchor Brian Williams what he made of the story, Schmidt began with an analogy about there being “two types of political parties just like there's two types of churches” as “[t]here's the type of church that hunts heretics and the type of church that seeks converts” with the GOP now firmly falling into the latter camp “of hunting heretics.”
Deeming it “a big moment,” the MSNBC analyst seemed to showcase the belief among some conservatives that the establishment loathes conservatives more than Democrats: “We are focused on kicking out people who through some prism are deemed to be impure. So, it's a big moment here.”
The man behind a failed presidential campaign then took aim at conservatives for putting the chance of the party taking the White House in 2016 in jeopardy for yet another election (never minding the inability of he and his former boss to get the job done in 2008):
I think also today, you have an astronomically greater likelihood now of government shut downs, of possible default on the full faith and credit of the United States. So, this will – this will have pretty profound implications for a party that is seeking the White House after having lost the popular vote in five of the last six elections.
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Going forward through the rest of Thursday into the evening newscasts and the Friday morning network newscasts, it’s almost certain that this general train of thought could be repeatedly uttered by members of the liberal media and sympathetic establishment figures in the Grand Old Party.
The relevant portion of the transcript from 1:00 p.m. Eastern hour of MSNBC Live on October 8 can be found below.
MSNBC Live with Thomas Roberts
October 8, 2015
1:03 p.m. EasternBRIAN WILLIAMS: Steve Schmidt is with us by telephone. MSNBC political analyst, ran the McCain campaign for president. Steve, you heard perhaps the quote from the GOP leader in Congress, leadership is lost in the House. What do you make of today’s developments?
STEVE SCHMIDT: Very significant developments, Brian and I think significant developments for the presidential race as well. There are two types of political parties just like there's two types of churches. There's the type of church that hunts heretics and the type of church that seeks converts and the Republican Party is in the full season now of hunting heretics. When you have a member of Congress like Tim Huelskamp on the program talking about we have to get rid of Mitch McConnell, we have to get rid of Kevin McCarthy, they have to be expurgated from leadership from the House, that it signifies a civil war inside the Republican Party and an intolerance and we’re not a party that's focused right now on growing a majority. We are focused on kicking out people who through some prism are deemed to be impure. So, it's a big moment here. Last night, Kevin McCarthy's team believed they had a hard whip count of about 200 votes on their way to the necessary 218 and clearly this morning, after a caucus meeting, they saw there was no path to getting the votes necessary to be speaker and I think also today, you have an astronomically greater likelihood now of government shut downs, of possible default on the full faith and credit of the United States. So, this will – this will have pretty profound implications for a party that is seeking the White House after having lost the popular vote in five of the last six elections.
WILLIAMS: Despite John Boehner's virtual guarantee that the government will not be shut down. Steve, do any names come to mind? You – the GOP caucus you describe sounds ungovernable but do any names come to mind at all?
SCHMIDT: Well, yeah, you know, Chris Matthews talked a moment ago about Paul Ryan and the impressment gang that would be needed to be there to dragoon him into service. It could be a very difficult job for whomever has it and you have a minority of the Republican caucus that in fact is holding hostage the majority of the conference and so, that speaker by definition, will be a weak speaker because that speaker's actions are constantly subject to being vetoed by, you know, a minority of the Republican – by minority of the Republican conference and it's not clear at all who the next speaker will be and there are no immediate names that would come to mind that have the ability – that have the ability to forge that consensus. The other thing I think that bears mentioning, Brian, is in our constitutional system, speaker of the house is number three in line of succession to the presidency, so you know, this is not just a person leading the House of Representatives. This is a person who could potentially accede to the office of the president of the United States and there should be some requisite qualities about the Speaker of the House, you know, presuming to be commander in chief of the armed forces of the United States should that contingency or eventuality ever happen.
WILLIAMS: This is indeed serious business. Steve Schmidt, thank you very much for joining us by telephone.
