Left-leaning Hollywood stars are relishing the ongoing showdown among House Republicans as the lawmakers in the 118th Congress struggle to elect a Speaker.
The drama to choose a Speaker played out for the third day in a row on Thursday, as Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), for the seventh time, fell short in reaching the 218 votes needed to secure the gavel.
“This Kevin McCarthy mess is giving me all the feels!” comedian Chelsea Handler wrote to her more than 7 million Twitter followers on Thursday. “So much fun to watch!”
“Are you guys watching the Speakership fest?” comedian Kathy Griffin, a vocal critic of former President Trump, said in a video posted on Tik Tok. “I know it’s bad for the country, but it’s good for us.”
In an Instagram Story post, Julia Louis-Dreyfus compared the scene on the House floor to her former HBO political satire series, “Veep.”
“If we don’t win an Emmy for this episode of [‘Veep,’] I’m leaving the TV Academy,” the actor and Democratic supporter wrote, alongside a photo of McCarthy.
Bette Midler, a frequent critic of Republicans, shared a screenshot of a Vanity Fair headline: “The worst people you know are having a fight,” with an image of GOP Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), Lauren Bobert (Colo.) and Matt Gaetz (Fla.). Once allies, the conservative firebrands have traded barbs over McCarthy’s pursuit of the Speakership.
“A Few Good Men” director Rob Reiner targeted McCarthy in a tweet that some criticized as homophobic.
“I hear that in order to get the votes he needs to become Speaker, Kevin McCarthy has made some concessions to members of the ‘Freedom Caucus,’” Reiner wrote. “Don’t know exactly what they are, but I hear one of them involves dropping his pants and bending over on demand.”
And former “Scandal” star Kerry Washington retweeted a message from “The View’s” Ana Navarro to McCarthy, which repeated the famed adage: “Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting different results.”
Updated at 4:18 p.m.