Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy “revenge tourism” suffered a flat tire on his first showing. McCarthy and his wealthy allies are seeking revenge on the Republicans who voted to remove him as speaker of the House last year, and one way he has tried to get back at them – in addition to attacking them in the media – is supporting your opponents in primary races.
The former speaker saw his first chance for revenge will catch fire on tuesdayas his nominee to remove the deputy. Nancy MacéRS.C., in the District 1 primary failed heavily.
NBC News reports groups linked to McCarthy spent more than US$4 million hoping to boost lawyer Catherine Templeton, and all that resulted was a 27-point beating. McCarthy and Co.’s support of Templeton put them at odds with donald trumpwhose endorsement of Mace, she said, “means more today than it ever did.”
According to some reports, Mace and Representative Bob Good of Virginia were considered the most vulnerable targets in the group that McCarthy called “eight crazy people led by Matt Gaetz.”
Good, who supported Ron DeSantis in the Republican presidential primaries, is the only member of this group which received an outright condemnation from Trump this year. Trump supported John McGuire, the McCarthy-aligned opponent, in the primary. So there is potential for a McCarthy “win” – if you want to call it that, as it is being crafted in the wake of Trump’s involvement. There is a Opponent aligned with McCarthy running in the primary against Gaetz as well; Removing him is likely an uphill climb, given that Gaetz received nearly 70% of the vote in his last primary.
As a politician gradesMcCarthy has limited opportunities for revenge going forward:
This “revenge trip” by McCarthy was supposed to show his power as an independent force in Republican politics. So far, it seems to be a reflection of his weakness and political irrelevance.
This article was originally published in MSNBC.com
