Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) says that Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) is not her choice for Speaker in part due to his battle with cancer.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 So, Congressman, do you plan to vote for Steve Scalise?
00:04 I'm not supporting Steve Scalise.
00:06 I'll be voting for Jim Jordan.
00:07 And why is that?
00:08 Well, Jim Jordan presented a strong plan for us, a detailed plan on how to move forward.
00:14 We didn't hear that plan from Steve Scalise.
00:16 It was more vague answers.
00:19 But there's another situation that's very personal to me.
00:22 I lost my father in 2021 to cancer.
00:26 And unfortunately, Steve is going through a cancer battle of his own.
00:32 And I like Steve Scalise a lot, and I like him so much.
00:35 I would like to see him put his full efforts into defeating that.
00:40 The Speaker of the House is a very serious job, and our country's in a crisis.
00:44 We've got a wide-open border.
00:46 Now there's a war breaking out in Israel that could expand in the Middle East.
00:51 Our country is still funding the proxy war against Russia and Ukraine.
00:55 And Americans are suffering under unbelievable inflation and possibly an upcoming recession.
01:01 We need a strong Speaker of the House that can put all of his energy into the job, which
01:07 requires not only being the leader in the House of Representatives, but traveling all
01:11 across the country.
01:13 So it's very serious to me.
01:14 Jim Jordan is a fighter.
01:16 I've known him for a very long time.
01:18 He endorsed me when I was first running for Congress.
01:21 And I think Jim Jordan is the leader we need right now to be Speaker of the House.
01:24 The Press: And just on his health issues, he says he's
01:27 under treatment and he can do the job.
01:29 You just don't buy that?
01:31 Ms. Sanders That's not what I'm saying at all.
01:33 I believe in Steve very much, and I believe he is definitely following the treatment plan
01:38 that his doctor has laid out.
01:42 But I think it's very serious.
01:43 Again, I lost my father to cancer, so I'm not saying this lightheartedly.
01:47 I'm saying this with as much compassion that I have for anyone.
01:51 And he's someone I like.
01:53 And Jim Jordan is someone that I believe in, that can lead this fight and lead our conference
01:58 and be a great Speaker of the House.
02:00 The Press: Is there anything that Scalise can offer to
02:02 get your votes, concessions the way that Kevin McCarthy did back in January to get other
02:07 votes?
02:08 Could Scalise offer you something to get your vote?
02:10 Ms. Sanders Well, obviously, I have my red lines.
02:13 I always do.
02:14 We need to stop funding this war in Ukraine.
02:16 We're paying for their entire government.
02:19 And that's not the right thing to do.
02:20 I think -- The Press: You want him to take that off the table?
02:22 Ms. Sanders This is for any speaker.
02:24 We need to stop funding this war in Ukraine.
02:26 We need to defend our own southern border.
02:29 And there is intel coming out right now that there could possibly be a terrorist attack
02:34 in our own country.
02:36 There's been many -- there's over 1.5 million gotaways that are in our country right now,
02:41 and we don't know how many of them are terrorists that want to do us harm.
02:45 So that's a very serious issue.
02:47 Also, I'm strongly against a weaponized government.
02:51 This government that is turning against conservatives, pro-life protesters, anyone that supports
02:57 President Trump and President Trump himself needs to be stopped.
03:01 Those are red lines for me.
03:03 Also, anything funding COVID and more vaccines and more mandates, we have to stop all of
03:09 that as well.
03:10 The Press: But it sounds like -- I mean, Scalise sounds like he supports a lot of things you're
03:12 saying here.
03:13 Does he not?
03:14 I mean, where does he deviate from you?
03:16 Ms. Sanders Of course.
03:17 Jim Jordan also supports these things.
03:19 And many of their answers were along the same lines.
03:22 But that's obviously because we're Republicans.
03:24 So many of us are going to have the same issues.
03:27 But again, for me, I'm proud to support Jim Jordan, and I'll be voting for him on the
03:32 House floor.
03:33 So if he's -- Jordan, we're reporting, is going to nominate Steve Scalise.
03:37 That's not going to change your mind.
03:38 If he goes to the floor and nominates Steve Scalise, you're still going to vote for Jim
03:42 Jordan?
03:43 There's a number of us that are still voting for Jim Jordan.
03:44 How many would you say there are?
03:46 I don't know our numbers right now, but we'll see.
03:48 Would you change?
03:49 Is there a point that you'd change?
03:50 Or just would you -- if it goes ballot after ballot, are you Jordan after Jordan every
03:53 ballot?
03:54 We'll see how it works out.
03:56 But my full plan is to vote for Jim Jordan.
03:59 Do you have any meetings with Scalise coming up?
04:01 Can he call you into his office to meet with him or anything like that?
04:04 None planned.
04:05 I already met with him yesterday.
04:06 I've met with both of them and talked to them.
04:10 But again, I'll go back.
04:11 We were doing a good job before.
04:13 Kevin McCarthy was doing a great job as Speaker of the House.
04:16 I had fully supported him.
04:18 And I wasn't part of the group that derailed our conference and derailed what we were doing.
04:23 All right.
04:24 I'll let you go.