CNN anchor incredulous after GOP rep blames Speaker chaos on Biden

CNN anchor Boris Sanchez fired back at Rep. Keith Self (R-Texas) in a Monday interview after the House Republican suggested President Biden was to blame for the chaos in the House around electing a new Speaker.

“Well, the chaos today is because of the weakness in the Biden administration,” Self said, responding to a question about how he thinks authoritarian leaders perceive Congress’s inability to elect a Speaker. 

“How? It’s your party,” Sanchez responded, cutting Self off. “It’s members of your party that ousted Kevin McCarthy.”

Self continued, citing unrelated issues Biden has dealt with during his presidency that Self suggested demonstrated Biden’s “weakness.”

“The southern border is absolutely in chaos. The inflation that is—,” he said, before he was cut off again.

“Congressman,” Sanchez said, “Respectfully, the reason the House doesn’t have a Speaker is not because of Joe Biden. It’s because of members of your party. That’s why the House doesn’t have a Speaker.”

The House has been without a Speaker for nearly two weeks, since eight Republicans voted with all Democrats to oust the former Republican Speaker, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), from his post. Since then, Republicans have struggled to put forward a candidate that could get the necessary votes to get elected on the House floor. 

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) was nominated by the House Republican conference Friday. While he first appeared to be well short of the necessary number of votes to win a majority of the full House, several members who initially opposed his nomination have since come out in support of his candidacy.

“Look, democracy is messy,” Self said. “We’re going to get through this. We’re going to have a new leadership in the House of Representatives. And then we’re going to lead to the victory in 2024 of a Republican president, hopefully a Republican Senate, and we’re going to change some of these policies that we see today.”