Fox News host Jeanine Pirro said Thursday that the drawn-out election for Speaker is “making the Republicans look ridiculous” as the House heads into an 11th round of voting, with Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) losing out in the first 10 ballots.
“I’m angry about it. You know why? They’re making the Republicans look ridiculous. First of all, I like Kevin McCarthy, OK? Why wasn’t this done ahead of time? Why are we doing this in front of the public? We look like a bunch of fools, OK?” Pirro, co-host of Fox News’s “The Five,” said during the program.
The GOP now has control of the House, with 222 seats compared to Democrats’ 212. But McCarthy has lost each round of votes for Speaker to Democratic Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) as around 20 Republicans have repeatedly voted for other candidates, preventing McCarthy from securing the majority needed to win.
Pirro called out Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), who nominated Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.) during an earlier vote.
“And Lauren Boebert, you know, with all due respect, I mean, the women barely won her race. You’re holding out until Kevin falls. What is the alternative? What do you want? What is the option? What can people agree on?” said Pirro, a longtime conservative media personality and a noted supporter of former President Trump.
“You want the Republicans to vote — to get the Democrats to get a Speaker of the House? Can you imagine Nancy Pelosi saying, ‘let me get some Republicans so that I can be the Speaker? I can put them on committees.’ This is an embarrassment,” Pirro added, saying “it shouldn’t have happened this way.”
The House opened its eleventh round of voting on Thursday. The election process will continue until a nominee gets the required majority.