Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) said he hasn’t given much thought to serving in a chamber controlled by Republicans because its hard to imagine “dumb” Kevin McCarthy as Speaker.
Asked by Vox if he thought about “what it would be like to work in a chamber led by Kevin McCarthy and the House Freedom Caucus?,” Gallego said “no.”
“In some regard because it’s hard for me to imagine someone that dumb being speaker of the House,” he added referring to Minority Leader McCarthy.
If it happens Gallego said he wouldn’t mind remaining in Washington “because I’m a great fighter.”
Gallego is not the only member of Congress expressing concern about McCarthy becoming speaker if Republicans win back control of the House after the midterms. Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill), who did not run for re-election, told CNN’s David Axelrod that he would “love” to see McCarthy not become speaker.
“I think it’ll be a very difficult majority for him to govern unless he just chooses to go absolutely crazy with them,” Kinzinger said. “In which case you may see the rise of the silent, non-existent moderate Republican that may still exist out there, but I don’t know.”
Despite warnings and McCarthy’s inability to rein in the far-right members of his caucus, Republicans are still heavily favored to win control of the House after the midterm elections.
