(Headline USA) Former Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich., was dragged by both conservatives and liberals this week after suggesting that House members elect him as Speaker amidst the ongoing leadership struggle.
Responding to news that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., failed to win the speakership after multiple ballots, Amash put himself forward as a potential “unity candidate.”
“I love this stuff. I wish this had happened when I was in Congress,” Amash said. “I might as well be here. I think I would make a great candidate for speaker.”
Former Rep. Justin Amash is here to spectate: “I love this stuff. I wish this had happened when I was in Congress… I might as well be here. I think I would make a great candidate for speaker.”
— Haley Byrd Wilt 🌻 (@byrdinator) January 4, 2023
Amash claimed he has the experience to know how to do the job, since he served as a House member for several years before leaving the Republican Party in 2019. He did not seek reelection.
“I’m not a current member of Congress, but I do know what’s at stake. I’d gladly serve as speaker of the House for one term to show people the kind of legislative body we can have if someone at the top actually cares about involving every representative in the work of legislating,” he wrote on Twitter.
According to reports, Amash was lobbying representatives in Capitol Hill on Wednesday between votes.
“Former Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) is standing just outside the Speaker’s Lobby telling reporters that he’s willing and interested in serving as a compromise Speaker,” Alex Bolton, a staff writer for The Hill, said.
Former Rep. @justinamash is on the House floor. @RepThomasMassie or @RepRosendale should nominate him as a compromise for Speaker. pic.twitter.com/7xQDci6FTW
— Montana Libertarian Party (@Montana_LP) January 4, 2023
Conservatives mocked Amash for trying to seek a leadership position when he couldn’t even hold onto his House seat in the first place.
“To that end, I am on standby if Bill Gates needs someone to inherit his wealth,” wrote Federalist writer Eddie Scarry.
Podcast producer Isaac Lee agreed:
me pitching myself as the next boyfriend for Ana de Armas: https://t.co/rLpaG2HSTT
— Isaac K. Lee (@IsaacKLee) January 4, 2023
Political strategist Greg Price quipped, “Amash is the definition of a jabroni.”
McCarthy lost his seventh bid for the speakership on Thursday, even after agreeing to multiple concessions demanded by hardcore conservatives who want him to step down.
The group of conservatives, which includes Reps. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., and Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., made it clear that McCarthy is the problem.
“I’m voting for anyone who actually brings unity to the Republican Party and helps get our country back on track,” Boebert said on Wednesday.
