Things got heated on “Fox & Friends” Thursday morning as co-host Lawrence Jones repeatedly demanded to know why Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) would not support Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) for House speaker.
Jordan has lost two speaker elections so far, failing to reach the 217 votes he needs to become the leader of the House and of a deeply divided Republican conference.
Lawler was among the 20 Republicans in the first vote and 22 in the second who opposed Jordan, voting instead for former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).
Lawler was very critical of the push to oust McCarthy earlier this month, an effort led by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.).
On Fox News, Lawler said Republicans need to figure out a more unified path forward. He suggested getting Gaetz’s hard-right faction “in a room” with more moderate Republicans and those who oppose Jordan, or “we’re never going to be able to build consensus.”
“The Gaetz thing is past us now,” Jones replied. “We have a new nominee that’s on the floor. And the question is, why aren’t you voting for him?”
“Respectfully, it’s not past us, and that’s the challenge here,” Lawler said.
That’s when things started heating up.
“What I’ve said to Jim Jordan from the very start is, you have to get the right people in the room so that we can hash this out,” Lawler continued, as Jones shouted: “I’m asking about you though, congressman. Not the right people, you! You are voting against them.”
Lawler pushed back: “You can yell at me about it, but with all due respect, if we don’t get everybody in the room to hash out the path forward, it doesn’t matter who the speaker is.”
Lawler noted that Republicans can elect a new speaker, but they’ll still need 218 votes on the floor to pass spending legislation, address border issues and approve aid to Israel and Ukraine.
“If we can’t compromise within the conference — forget about the Democrats — within the conference, we’re not going to be able to govern,” he said.
Various Fox News hosts have proven to be very passionate about the speaker race.
During Tuesday’s vote for Jordan, “Fox & Friends” co-host Brian Kilmeade was caught on a hot mic calling Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) a “dumbass” when he voted for McCarthy. And staffers for Sean Hannity reportedly emailed lawmakers demanding to know why they aren’t supporting Jordan.
News broke later Thursday that Jordan would not force a third vote, and would instead support a plan to temporarily empower interim House Speaker Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.).