The American people want House Republicans to put aside their differences and elect a new speaker, Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Pa., told Newsmax on Wednesday.
A morning floor vote had been scheduled after Republican conference nominee Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, failed on Tuesday to receive the needed 217 votes to win the speakership.
Meuser told "Wake Up America" co-hosts Rob Finnerty and Alison Maloni that he returned to Washington after visiting several counties in his home state during the weekend.
"I was listening to conservatives, moderates, independents, whomever, and they want to get this done," Meuser said. "We need to move on. It's getting to be a little embarrassing.
"Jim Jordan will be a good speaker, and this can't be about personalities. It needs to be about policy, ability, and what's best for our country."
Meuser said he was on the phone Tuesday night trying to persuade colleagues to support Jordan.
"I was on the phone for Jordan as well as some of our leadership," he said. "We certainly have some good members that could be good speakers as alternatives, but they're going to have to build, and how are they going to get the 217? You know, we need 99% basically, 98% to vote for one individual. Jordan's got what it takes. He can unite us.
"We don't recognize the fact that we need to work as a team."
The congressman explained why he was "very supportive of Jim Jordan."
"He's got what it takes," Meuser said. "He's certainly got the ability. Unfortunately, there are a number of members still that feel they've been sort of pushed into Jim Jordan.
"They didn't like what happened with [former Speaker] Kevin McCarthy. They didn't like what happened with [Majority Leader] Steve Scalise. In a way, they're taking it out on Jim Jordan that those situations occurred with the two previous leading candidates."
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Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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