Rep. Bob Good of Virginia
"No, I won't be voting for Kevin McCarthy tomorrow. He's part of the problem. He's not part of the solution," Good told Fox News on Monday:
"I will be following the will of my constituents, the voters from Virginia's Fifth District, who hundreds of which have told me over the past couple of years not just to support Kevin McCarthy.
"What I told them when I started my first term two years ago is, I would judge him by what he did as minority leader. And there's nothing he's done to earn my vote. There's nothing that indicates to me that he's going to change his pattern since he's been in leadership, where he's part of the swamp cartel.
"He's the reason, on the Republican side, why we passed massive omnibus spending bills like just got rammed down our throats by Republicans in the Senate. He was part of that in leadership.
“Since he's been in leadership over the past eight years, there's nothing about Kevin McCarthy that indicates that he will bring the change that's needed to Washington or that's needed to the Congress, or he will bring the fight -- fight against the Biden-Schumer agenda, and represent the interest of the voters who sent us to Washington to bring real change.”
Good said he and four other conservative Republicans will "block" Kevin until another candidate emerges:
"There will be, I suspect, 10 to 15 members who will vote against him on the first ballot tomorrow (Tuesday) that will vote for Andy Biggs.
"But then I think you will see, on the second ballot, an increasing number of members vote for a true candidate who can represent the conservative center of the conference, can motivate the base, inspire Republicans across the country, get...to 218 votes, bring our conference together to fight against the radical Democrat agenda, the most extreme agenda we have ever seen."
Host Griff Jenkins interrupted the congressman, noting that Biggs, an Arizona Republican, cannot win. "Give me a name," Jenkins told Good.
"Well, Griff, I'm going to resist for a few more hours what I have resisted for the last several weeks, because, as you know, if we were to put forth a name right now or over the last few weeks, that person would suffer all the attacks and retaliation and all the threats from--"
"So, you don't have a name," Jenkins interrupted.
"We absolutely -- Griff, you will see that name tomorrow on the second ballot," Good said.
Jenkins asked Good, "Will you accept responsibility for the damage that may do to Republicans as they try and begin a new chapter?"
"You know, it's funny, Griff," Good replied:
"Conservative pundits, conservative media has criticized Kevin McCarthy and the Republican leadership, Republican establishment all of these years, and yet they want us to now surrender to that and to vote for the status quo, to continue what we have always done, so we will get what we have always gotten.
"Some of us came to Congress to bring true transformational change to Congress, to Washington. We're willing to risk everything to save this country, to save the republic. We're teetering on the brink as a country, with an open border, with $32 trillion in national debt, a woke education system, a weakened military.
"And we know what we will get with Kevin McCarthy. So, we're going to block that. To suggest that, out of 222 members of Congress on the Republican side, there's only one person who can be the speaker just because he happens to be the current minority leader or is--" (another interruption from the host).
"Griff, we shouldn't be in a hurry to make a bad decision," Good eventually said:
"It's worth it to fight for a few hours or even a few days to get the best possible person for speaker, instead of just surrendering to the status quo, surrendering to the establishment.
"If you want earmarks continued, Kevin McCarthy is your speaker. If you want massive Democrat spending bills passed with the Republican majority, as happened the last time he was the majority leader, when we had control of Congress, Kevin McCarthy is your speaker. If you want to surrender the power of the purse and to not fight for true change, for true conservative principles, Kevin McCarthy would be your choice for speaker.
"But that's not what we're going to vote for tomorrow. And there's many Republicans within our conference who are privately acknowledging they know he doesn't have the votes.
"They know that he's not a trustworthy leader. They know he's not a real conservative. And they're ready to vote against him once we put forth a true challenge candidate on that second ballot."
Good for Good of Virginia.