Actor Ben Affleck is about as liberal as they come in Hollywood, but that didn’t stop House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, a Republican who also hails from the Left Coast, from borrowing a page out of Affleck’s movie “The Town” to rally the conservative troops. And the film clip inspired Rep. Allen West to leap to voice whole-hearted Speaker John Boehner’s budget proposal,
The Washington Post reports.
The incident came during a closed-door meeting Tuesday at which Republicans ultimately delayed a vote on Boehner’s plan, and West’s support surprised some in the room because the controversial Florida freshman and tea party favorite has criticized House leaders, the Post reported.
The anecdote is included in a Post story that notes: “The House GOP leadership team, often described as fractious, showed complete unity behind closed doors and in public Tuesday. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) told Republicans he was ‘150 percent’ behind Boehner and his plan, according to Republicans who attended Tuesday morning’s closed-door meeting. He told Republicans to ‘stop grumbling and whining and to come together as conservatives’ to support the Boehner proposal.”
Then, not unlike a coach before a big game, McCarthy showed the clip during the closed-door GOP meeting before he pressed his colleagues to support Boehner’s plan.
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| Ben Affleck, right, and Jon Hamm, one of Affleck's co-stars in "The Town," appear at the film's premiere at Venice Film Festival in September. (Getty Images Photo) |
In the clip from the 2010 that Affleck wrote, directed, and starred in, Affleck’s bank-robbing character, Doug MacRay, darkly approaches pal Jem Coughlin, portrayed by Jeremy Renner, and says: “I need your help. I can’t tell you what it is. You can never ask me about it later. And we're going to hurt some people.”
Renner’s character responds, "Whose car are we gonna take?"
They then don hockey goalie masks and go out and beat up a couple of rivals.
Republican aides told the Post that Allen chimed in at the end of the clip: "I’m ready to drive the car."
We would show you the clip, except that the rap song in the background includes language that some might find offensive.
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