Things got heated on Fox & Friends when co-host Lawrence Jones called out Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) over not supporting Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) for House speaker.

(Video Credit: Fox News)

Jones grilled Lawler over standing in the way of Jordan taking the gavel. The New York congressman took offense over the confrontation and clapped back hard at the Fox News host concerning the chaotic vote for House speaker.

Jordan is now up for a third vote after losing the first two. Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) endured 15 votes before becoming Speaker of the House. Republicans are getting very testy and nervous over the position staying vacant as Democrats wait with bated breath for a chance to steal more political control in the House.

Lawler called the proceedings a “clown show” after McCarthy was booted thanks to Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and seven other Republicans voting with Democrats to oust him. Lawler branded Gaetz a “charlatan” over the move.

“What is it going to take for you guys to get your act together?” Jones asked Lawler.

RINO Congressman Mike Lawler just voted for Kevin McCarthy for Speaker of the House and referred to him as Speaker McCarthy..

Another RINO POS..

— Matt Couch (@RealMattCouch) October 18, 2023

A warning for the GOP. If you allow Hakeem Jeffries to become Speaker instead of Jim Jordan, I will do everything I can to make sure you all lose in the Primary election next year.

We need Conservatives who are willing to fight for us

— Travis (@Travis_in_Flint) October 19, 2023

Lawler said he understood constituents’ frustration over the selection of a speaker but he also claimed that the biggest challenge facing House Republicans was building a consensus.

“The Matt Gaetz thing is past us now. We have a new nominee that’s on the floor. And the question is, why aren’t you voting for him?” Jones pointedly asked Lawler.

That’s when things went off the rails.

“Respectfully, it’s not past us. And that’s the challenge here. And what I’ve said to Jim Jordan…” Lawler started.

“McCarthy is not the nominee,” Jones noted.

Mike Lawler, a Republican from a swing NY district, says that Jim Jordan will lose even more votes if he goes to a third ballot. Says it’s time to empower McHenry.
“It’s clear he doesn’t have the votes. .. I think you’ll see more folks dropping off on a third ballot.” pic.twitter.com/xe6LmI5Tyf

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) October 18, 2023

“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 insisted.

Jones wasn’t buying it and tore into the New York lawmaker.

“I’m asking about you though, congressman. Not the right people — you! You are voting against,” he stated.

“With all due respect, 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. All right. We can elect a new speaker, but we still need 218 votes on the floor to pass our appropriations bills to deal with aid to Israel, to deal with the crisis in Ukraine, to deal with our border,” Lawler rattled off.

“If we can’t compromise within the conference. Forget about the Democrats within the conference. We’re not going to be able to govern. And that is the fundamental problem here,” he continued.

“So when you had eight people team up with 208 Democrats to unceremoniously remove Kevin McCarthy without cause, and then they moved to block Steve Scalise because they wanted Jim Jordan, you create a problem within the conference. And what I’m saying is if you want to fix it, as I told Jim Jordan last week, get everybody in the room that needs to be there and fix it. That’s the only way forward,” Lawler commented.

Rep. Jim Jordan fails again to win the vote to become House speaker. Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), one of the GOP defectors, says more floor votes won’t “solve the problem.”

He tells @nikolendc the House needs to “immediately” empower Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry. pic.twitter.com/5eVKsMufJR

— CBS News (@CBSNews) October 18, 2023

Jones saw through the posturing and called Lawler out for it.

“Leave the room until it’s fixed. Yeah, we’ll see this another way,” he stated.

“We told Jim, ‘Stay in the room till you get 217.’ Don’t put it on the floor until you have it,” Lawler doubled down.

“Agreed. And he… and he did. He went without it. And we had less votes yesterday than before,” Jones pointed out.

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.