Former Republican congressman Adam Kinzinger (Ill.) predicted on Wednesday that Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) will be elected as the next speaker of the House.
Only Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) and Jordan have announced they are running for speaker, so far, after Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said he will not seek the position again following his ouster.
While Jordan has taken on ‘establishment candidates’ like Scalise in the past and was defeated, Kinzinger said this time will likely be different because Jordan’s candidacy will become a “new litmus test” for Republicans in the Trumpified Republican party.
“Jim is gonna be now the new litmus test of, are you a true conservative or not? Steve Scalise won’t be. It’ll be Jim Jordan,” Kinzinger said during an appearance on AC360 Wednesday.
“I certainly hope for the country I’m wrong. But I’ll also say this. If he becomes speaker, it will be interesting to see how a shut-it-all-down kind of guy actually governs a country,” he added.
The search for a new Republican speaker comes after Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) led a successful effort to remove McCarthy from the position. McCarthy later said he will not run for the position again.
