GOP Strategist Blasts Anti-McCarthy Republicans For Fundraising Off House Chaos: ‘Want to Know What This Is All About?’

CNN political commentator and GOP strategist Scott Jennings criticized anti-McCarthy GOP House members on Thursday, calling into question their real motivations for blocking Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) from becoming speaker.

CNN’s panel discussed what possible alternatives the House may have to elect a speaker in the near future after McCarthy failed yet again to secure a majority.

“I would kick around, is we go to a runoff. Runoffs haven’t been great for the Republicans lately,” Jennings joked.

“But if you had the top two advance. Well, I’m just saying, because then you put those 20 on the spot. And so anyway, I don’t, it doesn’t sound like they’re close to a rule change,” he added, noting any new voting tactic was unlikely.

“By the way, a friend of mine from Indiana passed along an email he just got. You want to know what this is all about for some of these guys?” Jennings continued.

“Just received a fundraising email from Representative Andy Biggs, ‘Fellow American, we blocked Kevin McCarthy from becoming Speaker of the House. I need, can I count on your support?’ I mean, we keep asking,” Jennings added, quoting from the fundraising email.

“Some don’t want to govern at all,” interrupted Audie Cornish.

“And, you know, look this is something that’s fundamentally wrong with our political system right now. The incentives are misaligned. You want to raise a lot of money. Be outrageous. Marjorie Taylor Greene is one of the great fundraisers in the Republican Party. Now she’s on McCarthy’s side here because he made certain commitments to her, but she got there by being outrageous,” replied David Axelrod.

Fundraising emails from both Reps. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) and Matt Gaetz (R-FL), two of the leaders of the anti-McCarthy opposition, went viral online Thursday as multiple pundits and reporters shared them on Twitter.

Watch the full clip above via CNN