All too often, we’ve seen the story of the Trump lackey who swears over their unwavering loyalty, only to get nothing in return. It happened to just about every high profile Republican over the last four years who failed to stand up to him, and just about his entire former administration – including a vice president who was nearly murdered by his supporters.

Kevin McCarthy, who spent much of his career as House Minority Leader pretending to disapprove of everything the loudest insurrectionists in his party stand for, is hoping to be the next Speaker of the House, even if he didn’t attend the retirement speech given by the current occupant of that office. He was hoping that his passive embrace of MAGA would be enough and he’d be able to win the nomination easily, with a few Republican defections.

The problem is, a few Republicans have already defected, and McCarthy can only afford two more in his bid to be speaker – with far-right maniacs Matt Gaetz and Andy Biggs already out. If Democrats can piece together a coalition with a few moderates, the rest of the agenda the far right is hoping they can pull off may never come to pass, even with much of it in doubt already.

Even if McCarthy is able to find the votes to squeak by as speaker – it’s already clear he’s committing the worst possible sin you can as a Republican – appearing weak before the base. While Nancy Pelosi was effective at keeping order among a large and diverse caucus, McCarthy is no Pelosi – and if he does become speaker, the question quickly becomes how long he lasts before the GOP has another fight over who takes over, all while the party runs amok like they always do.

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