Kevin McCarthy has long been a loyal foot soldier for Donald Trump, but when House Republicans were preparing to oust him from the speakership Trump was nowhere to be found. McCarthy called Trump to ask why he hadn't offered any support:
During the call, Trump lambasted McCarthy for not expunging his two impeachments and not endorsing him in the 2024 presidential campaign, according to people familiar with the conversation.
This is an obsession of Trump's. Back in July, Politico's Playbook said this:
We’re told that Trump brings up the matter in every call he has with McCarthy, prodding the speaker about when he will bring expungement to the floor. McCarthy, however, has already pushed back the timeline. Perhaps realizing how tough such a vote will be, he recently told Trump’s team that the House will vote by the end of September.
By the end of September McCarthy had bigger problems on his plate, so we'll never know if he would have followed through.
In any case, Trump now has himself a new Speaker. Mike Johnson has endorsed Trump but hasn't given any indication that he'll bring expungement to the floor. So Trump hasn't really gotten anything out of the whole fiasco except a bit of revenge. But isn't that what life is all about?
POSTSCRIPT: You may be wondering if the House even can expunge Trump's impeachments. Of course not. It's in the Congressional Record and nothing can change that.¹
But if an expungement resolution passed, Trump would be able to say he had never been impeached. Hell, he could say it right now. It's a free country. But a cockamamie resolution wouldn't change the actual historical events any more than a routine Trump lie would.
¹Although I suppose I shouldn't give them ideas.
"So Trump hasn't really gotten anything out of the whole fiasco except a bit of revenge."
It is useful for him because it scares other Republicans from crossing him.
For example, see the other presidential candidates not daring to attack him. They know he will take revenge, and they are scared of it. Same for people like McConnell, which certainly would like see him go away, but don't dare to say it.
well, guess trump's gotta trump, amirite?
but in news from kevin's other hobbyhorse, the ML/AI frontier, there's a lot more going on than autopilot and automated burger flippers
###
Google DeepMind researchers have discovered 2.2 million crystal structures that open potential progress in fields from renewable energy to advanced computation, and show the power of artificial intelligence to discover novel materials.
The trove of theoretically stable but experimentally unrealized combinations identified using an AI tool known as GNoME is more than 45 times larger than the number of such substances unearthed in the history of science, according to a paper published in Nature on Wednesday.
The researchers plan to make 381,000 of the most promising structures available to fellow scientists to make and test their viability in fields from solar cells to superconductors. The venture underscores how harnessing AI can shortcut years of experimental graft—and potentially deliver improved products and processes.
https://arstechnica.com/ai/2023/11/googles-deepmind-finds-2-2m-crystal-structures-in-materials-science-win/
McCarthy is such a dim bulb he probably didn't see it coming, and his emotional reaction suggests he really did not. Donald Trump doesn't acknowledge owing anybody anything no matter what services were rendered. Whether it's throwing Adam Schiff off of the House Intelligence Committee, or hanging drapes in a bedbug-ridden resort, or defending him in court against very well-supported allegations, if you expect to be compensated for a service you do for Trump, you had best collect in advance. McCarthy, like legions of other chumps, thought that rule did not apply to him.
Kevin McCarthy -- repeatedly bullied and humiliated by Trump. Would still vote for him.
These people are such trash.
some 20-30 years ago, Democrats were described as behaving like battered wives: totally terrorized by their abusers (Republicans and the mainstream media) and in a permanent cringe.
Now, it's Republicans who have been cowed, and by just one man, who they foolishly elevated to President and head of their party. What comes around ...
The whole thing reminds me of cringe shows. I need don't watch sad, angry, gross people fuck with each other on TV, we get plenty of that trashy behavior from Republicans.
I mean, come on - Greene, McCarthy, Boebert, Gaetz - it reminds me of Trailer Park Boys ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trailer_Park_Boys ).
President Andrew Jackson was censured by the Senate in 1834. The censure was expunged in 1837.
Trump probably has some half-assed memory of this.
The Kevin McCarthy Humiliation Tour continues. No wonder he's considering early retirement.