Speaker vote: Brian Kilmeade calls Rep. Don Bacon ‘dumba**’ for voting McCarthy
October 17, 2023 01:39 PM
Fox News host Brian Kilmeade called Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) a “dumba**” for voting against Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) for House speaker during a floor vote on Tuesday.
Bacon was the first House Republican in the alphabetical roll-call vote for House speaker to vote for someone other than Jordan, who is the GOP conference nominee. Kilmeade could be heard uttering the one-word criticism on Fox News’s Outnumbered on Tuesday.
The Nebraska Republican would be the first of several who would vote for Republicans other than Jordan. Bacon voted for former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), who was ousted in a historic vote two weeks ago.
More than a dozen Republicans voted for other candidates ranging from McCarthy to House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) to former New York Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin, meaning Jordan appears to have failed the vote on the first ballot and will require another vote.
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The House of Representatives has been without its constitutionally mandated leader since McCarthy was removed in a majority vote of eight Republicans and all Democrats in the chamber. Jordan is the second nominee Republicans have named since McCarthy’s ouster, as Scalise initially received the nomination from the conference but bowed out after it became evident he would not get to 217 GOP votes.
Jordan said prior to the vote that he would do “whatever it takes to get a speaker,” even if it meant multiple ballots on Tuesday.