Right-wing media cheer on House Freedom Caucus’ temper tantrum that’s paralyzing the House floor

Right-wing media are cheering on the House Freedom Caucus’ procedural blockade that is undermining the own party leadership’s ability to vote on GOP-led legislation on the House floor. 

Since June 6, a small group of hard-right House members has been undermining Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s power and holding House votes hostage over its members’ frustration with his recent agreement with President Joe Biden on the debt ceiling. 

Various House Freedom Caucus members, including Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), have been vocal about holding up votes on the House floor following the debt ceiling agreement and have appeared on right-wing media to discuss their frustrations. The home base for this effort has been former Trump chief strategist and podcaster Steve Bannon’s War Room.

During the June 7 edition of Bannon’s show, the host described the caucus’s efforts to bring the House floor to a halt as “the exact opposite” of “a crazy kamikaze mission” and suggested that GOP leadership “can’t be trusted.”

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Citation From the June 7, 2023, edition of Real America's Voice's War Room

A day later, Bannon cheered on the caucus again, claiming that the group is developing “quite monumental” plans behind the scenes. 

“You’re either with us or you’re again’ us,” Bannon said.

Bannon later described the paralyzation of the House floor as “spiritual warfare manifested.”

Additionally, Bannon has cheered on the Freedom Caucus on his Gettr account.

Bannon Gettr June 8

Citation Screenshots from Steve Bannon's Gettr account 

While discussing the vote blockage with Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO), Newsmax host Greg Kelly positively described the holdout as “revenge and retaliation” against the speaker and suggested that GOP leadership “overdid it again,” seemingly referring to the debt ceiling agreement.

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Citation From the June 7, 2023, edition of Newsmax's Greg Kelly Reports 

Right-wing pundit Dinesh D’Souza tweeted a story about the Freedom Caucus’ revolt and wrote, “MAGA Republicans are not messing around. Should McCarthy be removed as Speaker?”

The House Freedom Caucus’ efforts to undermine McCarthy’s power continue a pattern of interparty turmoil within the GOP between far-right Republicans and their colleagues.