Michael Steele offered props to Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) on Saturday after the congressman led an effort to oppose Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) as speaker of the House that lasted days and more than a dozen votes.

Steele joined MSNBC’s Ali Velshi on Saturday and had plenty of criticism for Gaetz and others who forced McCarthy’s hand on multiple concessions before he could manage to limp over the finish line.

Steele, a former RNC head, accused his party of devolving into a contest to gain “power for the sake of power,” comparing this week’s in-fighting playing out on TV screens across the country to Game of Thrones.

Steele said:

“I don’t know how [McCarthy] governs with this. I think what we have witnessed this week and even leading up to this week is one of those elements that’s again metastasized inside the party and that’s this thirst for power for the sake of power. This battle was for the chair. I likened it last evening, as you may recall, to sort of the Game of Thrones actualized where it was for the seat, who sits in the seat.”

Steele further claimed there is no “policy will” and the speakership has been “stripped bare,” only referring to a lowering of a threshold to challenge McCarthy’s position as proof of this.

Despite his problems with the week’s events, Steele did offer, if not positive words exactly, certainly praise for Gaetz’s political maneuvering, saying the Florida congressman “punked” McCarthy and the army of Republicans continuously voting with him.

Steele said:

“I don’t care what you think about Matt Gaetz, but he punked the hell out of this system this week. And not just McCarthy, but the 200 other Republicans who supported McCarthy. [For 15 ballots], they were weak and weakened. But for Matt Gaetz in that final moment saying, ok, I’ll vote present, this thing would probably still be metastasizing.”

Watch above via MSNBC

The post Michael Steele Offers Props To Matt Gaetz After McCarthy Chaos: ‘He Punked the Hell Out of This System’ first appeared on Mediaite.

from Mediaite https://ift.tt/5vPuNpW