The Republican party goes to war with itself

Florida’s governor Ron DeSantis declared as he was sworn in for a second time yesterday that, under his reign, Florida ‘will never surrender to the woke mob’. Meanwhile, woke or not, a different mob was disrupting the proceedings in Washington, D.C. at the nation’s Capitol. The same lawmakers who plotted to disrupt Joe Biden’s inauguration as president are now training their firepower on Kevin McCarthy.

Right now, no House of Representatives exists. No House speaker exists. No committees have been formed. Nada. To the delight of their political foes, Republicans aren’t battling Democrats; they are battling themselves. Three times McCarthy sent up his name. Three times he was rejected. A perfect whiff. Only George Santos, whom Brazil is now seeking to have extradited, enjoyed a lonelier reception than McCarthy.

Santos is a newbie. McCarthy, by contrast, has been plotting to become speaker for years. Denied the post in 2015, he was intent on letting nothing stop him.