The office of speaker of the House of the United States House of Representatives is hereby declared vacant.
With those words, spoken in the House on Tuesday afternoon, Kevin McCarthy’s reign as speaker came to an inglorious end. McCarthy is the first speaker in history to be removed by his own party; eight Republicans voted to remove him, along with all 208 Democrats who were present and voting. McCarthy now holds the record for the shortest speakership since the 1870s.
McCarthy’s defeat resulted from a bitter power struggle within the GOP, primarily due to the efforts of Representative Matt Gaetz, a hard-right rebel, who initiated the vote. The GOP, despite holding the House majority, now finds itself in a state of deep division and dysfunction.
I consider Matt Gaetz to be a maliciously cynical lawmaker, but I can’t say I’m sorry to see McCarthy dethroned. He played a key role in transforming the GOP into a monstrous political party that poses the greatest threat to the Republic since the Civil War, with its contempt for constitutional and democratic norms.
McCarthy was one of 147 Republicans who voted to overturn the 2020 election results shortly after the January 6 attack on the Capitol. Despite privately expressing his desire for Trump’s resignation, McCarthy quickly changed his stance to align with the Republican base. McCarthy went as far as visiting Mar-a-Lago to rehabilitate Trump’s image and has since defended him at every turn. McCarthy’s unwavering loyalty to Trump, a lawless and destructive figure, led Trump to refer to him as “my Kevin.”
One of McCarthy’s legacies is his repeated attacks on key American institutions, such as the Department of Justice, to provide cover for Trump’s misconduct. McCarthy’s close association with QAnon conspiracy theorist Marjorie Taylor Greene further exemplifies his willingness to align with extreme elements of his party.
McCarthy’s behavior reached a new low when he campaigned against fellow Republican Liz Cheney, a staunch defender of the Constitution who voted to impeach Trump. McCarthy’s primary focus became pleasing Trump and the extremists within his party, even if it meant ignoring evidence and participating in a clown show of an impeachment inquiry against President Biden.
What makes McCarthy particularly pathetic is that everyone knows he is not a true MAGA believer. He was a mainstream Republican until the Trump era, driven by ambition rather than ideology. He excelled at fundraising and desperately wanted to become speaker of the House. However, his lack of principles and willingness to betray his own party members ultimately led to his downfall.
During his short tenure, McCarthy exemplified the dangers of power in the wrong hands. His betrayal of principles and soul for the sake of political gain is reminiscent of the cautionary tale from A Man for All Seasons, where a weak and ambitious man succumbs to temptation and betrays his mentor.
Kevin McCarthy may have given up his soul for Donald Trump, but he is not alone in his moral compromise.
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