Reporters should have a question for Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: Were you lying then, or are you lying now?
One of the sideshows of the ongoing soap opera of Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s so far failing bid to be the next speaker of the U.S.House was a pair of huddles Ocasio-Cortez had with two of McCarthy’s main foes, GOP Reps. Matt Gaetz of Florida and Paul Gosar of Arizona.
According to The Intercept on Tuesday, the first day of balloting, “Gaetz told Ocasio-Cortez that McCarthy has been telling Republicans that he’ll be able to cut a deal with Democrats to vote present, enabling him to win a majority of those present and voting.”
AOC confirmed this was the subject of the conversation with Gaetz.
“McCarthy was suggesting he could get Dems to walk away to lower his threshold,” Ocasio-Cortez told The Intercept. “And I fact-checked and said absolutely not.”
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In speaking to Gosar, AOC reportedly acknowledged that he was concerned the House might have adjourned, which would have given McCarthy time to lobby the holdouts to come to his side. On that issue, she held off, indicating it was up to Democratic leaders.
Yet on Wednesday, AOC said that Democrats were “open” to the idea of abandoning the vote to allow McCarthy to slide past his conservative opposition.
The liberal website Salon reported that as the voting dragged on for a second day, “Hopes of a Democratic deal (were) spurred by comments from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio.”
Salon added, AOC’s position “may have shifted.”
MSNBC reported that in its interview with her, the radical Democrat “affirmed that Democrats were uniting behind House Democratic Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. She hinted, though, that other options could still be on the table when asked.”
“If they want to play ball, we’re open to that,” AOC said of McCarthy’s “team.”
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In still another interview, a reporter with the liberal Daily Beast said AOC “wouldn’t outright rule out working w/ Rs [Republicans] to resolve the speaker battle, but McCarthy would not be a unity candidate + Ds [Democrats] would need more concessions than just things like committee ratios.”
“But, I mean, hey, if we could get some chairs,” AOC commented to the Daily Beast.
On Wednesday, after AOC’s Daily Beast interview appeared on Twitter, Gaetz tweeted, “Another day, another lie from Kevin McCarthy.”
“Just weeks ago, Kevin McCarthy promised me and the entire House Republican caucus that he wouldn’t seek Democrat votes to secure the Speakership. In fact, his people said it was a ‘doomsday scenario’ if this were to happen.”
Yet AOC also was apparently lying — at least to Gaetz — by denying such a deal was in the works. After all, does anyone believe she’d fib to her media friends at MSNBC and the Daily Beast?
With all the lying going on, maybe GOP rep-elect George Santos can be speaker.
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