WATCH: Incoming GOP congresswoman says she was threatened for not backing Kevin McCarthy
Luke Gentile
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Incoming GOP congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna (FL) said Friday that she was threatened by a sitting House member to commit to backing House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) for speaker.
“I got a very inappropriate phone call,” Luna told Steve Bannon in an interview. “Another member had called me basically to whip votes for the speaker’s race and ultimately ended up threatening me.”
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Luna, who is set to represent Florida’s 13th District, said it was a female member who issued the threat.
“I let that female member know that I wasn’t going to basically be threatened,” she said. “I don’t think I need to put that person’s name out there because I think that they are probably embarrassed about doing that.”
Luna does not think incidents such as hers are uncommon in Congress, she said.
“I’m not going to be bullied,” the incoming congresswoman said. “If you are going to negotiate in good faith, negotiate in good faith, but don’t resort to threatening people.”
She expects some anger when she arrives in Washington, D.C., she said.
“I’m doing this not because I want to go hang out in D.C.,” the Floridian said. “I’m doing this because it needs to be done right now.”
Luna lauded a few of her colleagues but made it clear that her vote for speaker Tuesday is hers alone.
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“I will not be voting for anyone that does not embrace that motion to vacate the chair, and I don’t care who that is,” she said.