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Fox News keeps attacking House Republicans voting against Kevin McCarthy for speaker

“They all look like idiots, and that's how they are acting”

Written by Jane Lee & Alicia Sadowski

Published 01/06/23 10:31 AM EST

After another day of House Republicans failing to elect a speaker, Fox News personalities — with the exception of network darling Tucker Carlson — continued launching attacks against Republican House members opposing Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) in his bid for the speakership.

Despite facing backlash from other right-wing media figures and outlets over the network’s general support for McCarthy, particularly after a shouting match between Fox host Sean Hannity and Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) over the GOP’s internal stalemate, Fox News personalities maintained support for McCarthy and condemned the holdouts, who Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade called “insurrectionists.”

  • Fox contributor and former GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich compared Republicans opposing McCarthy to “terrorists,” saying: “Just as you can’t give in to terrorists and you can’t give in to hostage-takers, you can't allow them to take the conference hostage and win.” [Fox News, Hannity, 1/3/23]
  • Fox host Emily Compagno asked if taxpayers can “bill the government” for the speaker delay and the House GOP’s “inability to come together to serve the American people.” [Fox News, Outnumbered, 1/3/23]
  • Appearing on Fox & Friends, Rep.-elect John James (R-MI) called the House GOP dispute “bitching and moaning from folks who don’t have the vision.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 1/3/23]
  • Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) surmised, “It’s a shame, it makes us look foolish. If I didn't know any better, it is like the Democrats paid these people off.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 1/3/23]
  • Fox host Mark Levin criticized the holdouts, saying, “Chaos and anarchy are not conservatism,” and adding that he had “nothing but contempt” for Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), who has helped lead the opposition to McCarthy’s bid. [Westwood One, The Mark Levin Show, 1/3/23]
  • Fox contributor Mike Huckabee suggested that “Fox needs to run a big screen across the lower thirds that say, ‘House held hostage, day two.’” [Fox News, The Story with Martha MacCallum, 1/4/23] 
  • Fox contributor Ari Fleischer condemned the Republicans opposing McCarthy: “They all look like idiots, and that's how they are acting.” [Fox News, America Reports, 1/5/23]
  • Host Jeanine Pirro attacked Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) for holding out and “making the Republicans look ridiculous,” adding: “With all due respect, I mean, the woman barely won her race.” [Fox News, The Five, 1/5/23]
  • Fox contributor Marc Thiessen described some of the opposing Republicans as “like the Joker in Batman: They just want to see the world burn. You know, the Matt Gaetzes of the world, Lauren Boebert, who barely won her district.” [Fox News, The Story with Martha MacCallum, 1/5/23]
  • Fox prime-time host Sean Hannity criticized the House Republicans holding out: “Do I think that people are being completely and totally and utterly illogical and unreasonable? I do.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 1/5/23]

The Latest

  1. Fox News' Kayleigh McEnany attempts to justify deployment of National Guard by declaring “a pretty clear rebellion” against the government

    Video & Audio 10/06/25 6:21 PM EDT

  2. Nick Fuentes: “Let's get all the towel heads on one side. We'll get all the tiny hats on the other. ... And we can send them all right back to the Middle East.”

    Video & Audio 10/06/25 5:38 PM EDT

  3. Megyn Kelly on Trump-appointed judge who ruled about the National Guard in Portland: “This woman thinks she's president”

    Video & Audio 10/06/25 4:47 PM EDT

  4. A Trump-appointed judge just demolished right-wing fearmongering about Portland

    Article 10/06/25 1:00 PM EDT

  5. On MSNBC's Velshi, Angelo Carusone discusses how traditional right-wing media and far-right fringes have coalesced around the baseless claims about the government shutdown

    Video & Audio 10/06/25 11:21 AM EDT

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In This Article

  • Fox News

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  • Congress

    Congress
  • Sean Hannity

    Sean-Hannity-MMFA-Tag.png
  • Mark Levin

    Mark-Levin-MMFA-Tag.png
  • Ari Fleischer

    Ari-Fleischer-MMFA-Tag.png
  • Fox & Friends

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  • Matt Gaetz

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  2. Greg Gutfeld cheers on the government shutdown so he can “skip Thanksgiving” and claims “it’s not a big problem” for travel

    Video & Audio 11/07/25 5:47 PM EST

  3. Fox buries its own exclusive after Trump restates plan to defy court-ordered SNAP benefit payments

    Article 11/07/25 2:27 PM EST

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