Wait for it
The narrative will come from the press, from Republicans, and from the peanut gallery.
Here’s former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, post-defrocking:
“I think today was a political decision by the Democrats, and I think the things they have done in the past hurt the institution. When they just started removing people from committee, when they just started doing the other things, and my fear is the institution fell today.”
Ah, they failed to support the institution.
Here we go:
It would be understandable if Democrats decided to remain neutral on Tuesday (by voting “present”), reasoning that it is a Republican civil war. But they didn’t. Instead, by voting “no” on the procedural motion to table Rep. Matt Gaetz’s motion—and then voting “yes” on his Motion to Vacate the Office of Speaker—Democrats effectively voted for Gaetz. And a vote for Gaetz is a vote for chaos.
Peanut gallery (I think):
McCarthy was a MAGA-owned House Speaker who removed Ukraine aid from the government funding bill, so … no. https://t.co/PtNRVnAN2R
— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) October 4, 2023
Steve Benen counters on the institution:
I can think of members who can credibly claim to be institutionalists. McCarthy isn’t one of them.
What’s more, McCarthy is blaming Democrats, despite the fact that he spent 10 months alienating them; he never reached out to ask Democrats for their backing, and he ultimately offered them nothing in exchange for their support.
Even if the ousted GOP leader had made a real effort ahead of Tuesday’s dramatic events, it probably wouldn’t have mattered because he’d clearly lost Democrats’ respect and trust, after having lied to and about them.
But let’s not miss the forest for the trees: The biggest problem with blaming Democrats for McCarthy’s downfall is that none of this was Democrats’ idea. It’s not as if House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries was the one who filed a motion to vacate the chair.
McCarthy spent months struggling with many of his most radical members. They threatened to try to oust him. Then they did. If Republicans are looking for who was responsible, they need only to look around at their next conference meeting.
That does not mean the press, the Republicans, and the peanut gallery won’t embrace the narrative. Democrats are always expected to be the adults in the room tasked with changing the dirty diapers.
Update: Forgot to drop this in.
The idea that Ds should have bailed out McCarthy is a codicil of the larger logic of DC punditry in which R bad behavior/destruction is assumed, a baseline like weather, and Ds managing the consequences of that behavior is a given. It’s part of DC being hardwired for the GOP.
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) October 4, 2023