Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, R-Pa., who has been elected as the House GOP chief deputy whip, Friday called on his fellow Republicans to put their personal feelings aside and stop the "silly games" when it comes to electing current Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy as House speaker, warning they could end up with someone they'll like even less — like outgoing Rep. Liz Cheney.
"To the five individuals that are there still holding out, I would say it's time to put their personal feelings aside and be team players," Reschenthaler said on Newsmax's "Wake Up America." "If you play silly games, you win silly prizes, and I can tell you what the silly prize could be. It could be something like a Liz Cheney taking the gavel or a moderate former governor."
One does not have to be a representative to be elected as House speaker, Reschenthaler added, "so it would be very easy for the moderate Republicans to hand that gavel to someone [else]."
McCarthy will be "much more conservative" than other GOP leaders have been in the past, including former Speakers John Boehner and Paul Ryan, said Reschenthaler.
Reps. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., Ralph Norman, R-S.C., Bob Good, R-Va., and Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., have said or indicated they do not back McCarthy.
McCarthy netted a 188-31 vote for speaker in GOP conference ballots, but he will need 218 votes from his House party colleagues to be elected.
McCarthy warned in a Newsmax interview earlier this week that "if we don't do this right, the Democrats can take the majority. If we play games on the floor, the Democrats can end up picking who the speaker is."
Reschenthaler praised McCarthy as the party's best strategist and fundraiser, pointing out that the California Republican "raised about a half a billion dollars last cycle, and he's our best recruiter.
"One of the reasons why we've been able to win a lot of these tough races is because we have good candidate recruitment, and that's that goes back to Kevin McCarthy."
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