Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., told Newsmax on Thursday that there's a "whole menu" of issues that House Republicans have with Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, in his bid to become speaker; but he added that it's "very difficult for anyone to get to 217 on anything" in the divided GOP conference.
Appearing on "Eric Bolling The Balance," Comer bemoaned the fact that House Republicans have a "lot of issues internally, and, unfortunately, it's been brought out to the public."
"I certainly hope he gets there. I mean, Jim is the right guy for the job," Comer said. "Having said that, he's clearly a few votes short. And I've spoken with just about every single holdout thus far, and there's a whole menu of reasons why different members have issues with Jim right now."
Twenty Republicans voted against Jordan in the first round of voting and 22 in the second.
"It's very difficult for anyone to get the 217 on anything in this divided Republican conference."
The problem, Comer said, is that it's easier for a handful of members to remove a speaker than it is for the majority to elect a new one. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., was ousted from the speakership on Oct. 3.
"What happened when those eight joined with [Rep.] Matt Gaetz to vacate the chair, it created a problem," Comer said. "It's one thing to remove the speaker. But when you do that, you need to make sure you've got someone in place to replace the speaker. And we saw how hard it was to elect McCarthy the first time. And unfortunately, Jim Jordan's going through the same ordeal now."
Comer said he was against the proposal to expand the powers of Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., saying, "I think the Constitution's clear about that."
Gaetz, R-Fla., again, was the outspoken ringleader against expanding McHenry's powers.
"I don't disagree with what Gaetz said, but he's the one that started the fire," Comer said. "I want to see Jim Jordan get to be speaker. But the more votes we have where he comes up short, it's certainly not promising.
"So what Matt said — we need to move on to the next person to get 217 — that's the problem. It's very difficult now for anyone to get to 217. We were divided to begin this Congress; and unfortunately, we're even more divided now," Comer said.
"We got a lot of issues internally. And unfortunately, it's been brought out to the public in a very public way in front of the American people. You know, again, I can't express how much I want Jim Jordan to be speaker. But I fear we're in for a long, drawn-out journey here," Comer said.
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Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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