Marjorie Taylor Greene says eight Republicans who ousted McCarthy need to apologize to conference

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said the eight Republicans who voted to oust former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy from his post owe everyone an apology.

“The eight Republicans who joined Democrats and ousted Kevin McCarthy, they need to apologize and we need to heal our conference in order to move forward,” the Georgia Republican said in a Tuesday interview with Fox Business’s Larry Kudlow.

It’s been three weeks since Rep. Matt Gaetz, Florida Republican, brought a motion to vacate against fellow Republican Mr. McCarthy of California. Mr. Gaetz and fellow Republican Reps. Andy Biggs of Arizona, Ken Buck of Colorado, Nancy Mace of South Carolina, Tim Burchett of Tennessee, Eli Crane of Arizona, Bob Good of Virginia and Matt Rosendale of Montana, voted with Democrats the next day to strip him of the speakership.

But Mr. Gaetz said Wednesday he felt vindicated by the election of Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana as the new speaker. 

“It fulfilled my commitment to have one who’s more honest and more conservative,” Mr. Gaetz told The Washington Times. “I think these were the most productive 22 days we’ve had in the House of Representatives because we were able to vanquish the lobbyist vessel formerly known as Speaker McCarthy.”

The vote on Mr. McCarthy marked the first time in history a speaker had been removed from the position. There have been votes in the past, but none had actually come to removal.

Ms. Greene was a vocal critic of ousting Mr. McCarthy, saying that it would not “effectively create the changes needed,” and that it would give “the upper hand to the Democrats.”

House Republicans struggled for weeks to find someone to replace Mr. McCarthy. Three GOP nominees — Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana, Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, and Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota — dropped out of the race because they could not garner enough votes to win.

Mr. Scalise and Mr. Emmer never participated in a vote on the floor, but Mr. Jordan tried three times to win the gavel, to no avail.

Ms. Greene had been a supporter of Mr. Jordan, but did not think Mr. Emmer was the man for the job.

“We need a Speaker of the House that reflects the values and views of Republicans across the country, and that includes supporting President Trump,” Ms. Greene said on X after Mr. Emmer dropped out.

After Ms. Greene’s interview, the GOP nominated Rep. Mike Johnson, Louisiana Republican, as the fourth nominee. On Wednesday he was voted in as speaker unanimously by House Republicans with a final vote of 220-209. He won the gavel in only one round of voting.

Ms. Greene congratulated Mr. Johnson on his win on X, and in another post wrote, “We have a Speaker. It’s time to work for the American people and stop the Democrat destruction of our country.”

— Ramsey Touchberry contributed to this report.