(FreedomBeacon.com)- President Joe Biden got sassy and attacked Republicans with a little joke that sparked laughter from reporters, according to Mediaite. The comment was reportedly on the chaos that erupted over several days when conservatives refused to support Kevin McCarthy for the speaker of the House.
McCarthy failed vote after vote to secure a majority of the votes to become speaker, with the effort being led by House Freedom Caucus member Rep. Matt Gaetz. Gaetz wanted Republicans to deliberate on other candidates that were not considered likely to capitulate to Democrats like McCarthy.
The president approached a herd of reporters and mockingly congratulated Reuters White House correspondent Steve Holland for becoming speaker, poking fun at Republicans’ inability to agree on a consensus candidate. When asked if he was afraid there will not be a functioning House, Biden commented that it was “embarrassing.”
“We’re the greatest nation in the world. How can that be?” Biden asked, adding that he has had trouble with the “attacks on our institutions already” and this would be the latest failure that he is worried about.
It took 15 rounds of votes to elect McCarthy as speaker. Since 1923, this would be the first time a speaker failed to get elected on the first round of votes.
McCarthy rallied support from the majority of House Republicans and even enjoyed an endorsement from Mike Pence and former President Donald Trump. Gaetz, reportedly called Trump’s endorsement “sad.” He said that the endorsement changes nothing and McCarthy continued to lose the vote.
It was only after Trump and Gaetz spoke personally that Gaetz changed his “no” vote to “present,” effectively lowering the threshold for McCarthy to be elected as speaker. McCarthy credited Trump with securing the deal and acknowledged that the former president has not lost his influence.
Trump reportedly wants to focus on the economy and weak border.
