AOC open to ‘unity candidate’ as McCarthy struggles to lock down speaker votes
Samantha-Jo Roth
Video Embed
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said she wouldn’t rule out working with Republicans to resolve the speaker battle but emphasized she did not see GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) as a “unity candidate.”
The New York congresswoman said Democrats would need more concessions from Republicans beyond increasing committee ratios in order to gain their cooperation.
MCCARTHY PUSHES TO DELAY FOURTH SPEAKERSHIP VOTE
“I mean, hey, if we could get some chairs,” she said to reporters following a Democratic caucus meeting Wednesday afternoon.
The progressive Democrat was seen speaking on the House floor with several Republicans amid the chaotic vote for speaker on Tuesday afternoon. Ocasio-Cortez said McCarthy would need to hit a “complete reset” in order to gain the support of Republican holdouts.
“I think a McCarthy speakership would require him to reach out to Democrats. In speaking with some folks in his party yesterday, the opposition there is very personal, very entrenched,” the congresswoman said.
During a succession of votes for House speaker on Tuesday, Ocasio-Cortez spoke with Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ), one of the 20 Republicans who opposed McCarthy on the third ballot.
“I think there was a rumor going around the Republican caucus that there was potential, and I think there was some fear or some uncertainty among some of the holdouts that we may bail [McCarthy] out. I was simply providing assurance that we would not,” she said.
Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-CA), the House Democratic Caucus chairman, said he had not been approached by Republicans about supporting a “unity candidate” and didn’t want to address hypothetical situations.
“We’ve been very clear that we want to work to deliver legislative achievements to the American public. If there was something that was real, we’d look at that,” he said during a news conference on Wednesday.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Following a House Democratic Caucus meeting, Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), the former House majority leader, said there had not been any discussions about whether Democrats could move the process along and help McCarthy gain the speakership.
“At this present time, I’m sure our present leadership is discussing that,” Hoyer said. “I think it’s very unfortunate that we didn’t see any movement yesterday. The only movement we saw yesterday from the Mr. McCarthy standpoint was in the wrong direction.”