Washington Post associate editor Jonathan Capehart and New York Times columnist David Brooks gathered for their regularly scheduled weekly news recap on PBS NewsHour on Friday by welcoming the failure of Rep. Jim Jordan to become Speaker of the House.
Host Geoff Bennett led Capehart with a statement rather than a question, “And, Jonathan, it speaks volumes that Jim Jordan was dismissed by secret ballot. He lost 25 Republican votes on the floor in public, but, behind closed doors, in the secret ballot, he lost 112 Republicans.”
Capehart naturally agreed, arguing that proves “the public intimidation worked, when they had to go to the floor and before their colleagues and before the nation declared their fealty to Jordan or their fealty to someone else. But behind closed doors, they were actually able to say what they really felt.”
As for Jordan himself, Capehart added, “And I'm going to jump on — jump on in support of what David was just talking about. You know, yes, Steve Scalise was an institutionalist. Jim Jordan, Congressman Jordan, is not an institutionalist. He has never been about governing. He's been about burning the place down.”
Nobody should seriously believe that if Scalise had become Speaker, Capehart would be singing his praises. He would almost certainly be panicking and asking what sort of side deals he made in order to get the magic number and claim that proves he’s no different than Kevin McCarthy or Jim Jordan.
Staying on Jordan, Capehart decried Jordan was even an option, “And the idea that he was Speaker-designate says a lot about where the Republican Party is and the idea that he thought that he was going to be speaker of the House, he was not interested in governing, not interested in governing at all. If he had been, he would have a law with his name attached to it.”
Capehart also described him as someone who “came to Washington to deconstruct — deconstruct government, deconstruct the House.”
After Capehart concluded by acknowledging he doesn’t know who “can get 217 votes,” Bennett took that theme, turned to Brooks and asked, “It's a good question. And I will add this question. Why were Republicans unable to clinch victory from the jaws of defeat? There was this viable option, empowering Patrick McHenry as a temporary House Speaker. Democrats would have supported that, enough Democrats would have supported that, but, ultimately, Republicans killed it.
Brooks, who is supposed to be the conservative half of this duo, could have replied by pointing out that Democrats had a chance to put the institution and Ukraine aid before their partisan self-interest when this whole process began and so calls for Republicans to team up with Democrats now is hypocritical. Instead, he agreed, “Yeah, and I think that's just because they failed to put governing first. I mean, we're at a situation whether Ukraine aid, whether Israel aid, all these major issues are on the floor. And, in a normal time, as Jonathan said, if people are interested in legislating, in governing, in the actual physical state of the country, they say, ‘well, this is not the time to have a brawl.’”
Speaking of Israel, Capehart would later label President Biden’s recent speech a “home run,” which is typical PBS: Democrats are great, Republicans are not.
Here is a transcript for the October 20 show:
PBS NewsHour
10/20/2023
7:37 PM ET
GEOFF BENNETT: And, Jonathan, it speaks volumes that Jim Jordan was dismissed by secret ballot. He lost 25 Republican votes on the floor in public, but, behind closed doors, in the secret ballot, he lost 112 Republicans.
JONATHAN CAPEHART: Yeah, and what that means is that the, sort of, the public intimidation worked, when they had to go to the floor and before their colleagues and before the nation declared their fealty to Jordan or their fealty to someone else. But behind closed doors, they were actually able to say what they really felt.
And I'm going to jump on — jump on in support of what David was just talking about. You know, yes, Steve Scalise was an institutionalist. Jim Jordan, Congressman Jordan, is not an institutionalist. He has never been about governing. He's been about burning the place down.
And the idea that he was Speaker-designate says a lot about where the Republican Party is and the idea that he thought that he was going to be speaker of the House, he was not interested in governing, not interested in governing at all. If he had been, he would have a law with his name attached to it.
But he came to Washington to deconstruct — deconstruct government, deconstruct the House. I applaud the Republican Conference for secretly, but at least booting him from being Speaker-designate. But now the bigger question is, who in the Republican Party, in that Republican Conference, can get 217 votes in order to be speaker outright? And I don't see who that is.
BENNETT: It's a good question. And I will add this question. Why were Republicans unable to clinch victory from the jaws of defeat? There was this viable option, empowering Patrick McHenry as a temporary House Speaker. Democrats would have supported that, enough Democrats would have supported that, but, ultimately, Republicans killed it.
DAVID BROOKS: Yeah, and I think that's just because they failed to put governing first. I mean, we're at a situation whether Ukraine aid, whether Israel aid, all these major issues are on the floor. And, in a normal time, as Jonathan said, if people are interested in legislating, in governing, in the actual physical state of the country, they say, “well, this is not the time to have a brawl.”
