Former Republican Congressman Denver Riggleman highlighted what he called the "batsh*ttery" of the GOP when giving an assessment of the future of the party and its relationship with voters. He predicted that this would ultimately lead to "chaos" even if Republicans were running the House.
Speaking to CNN's Jim Acosta, Riggleman said that the key piece of conspiracy theorists like QAnon and the MAGA world is fear. But fear is not a sustainable emotion for people.
"I think, finally, the sane individuals started to fear what was coming from that crazy side and the hate that was being spewed out constantly and, you know, when you look at the polls beforehand or the top issues you didn't see Jan. 6 or democracy anywhere in those top ten, but I think people got afraid near the end and I think they pulled the lever because of the rhetoric coming from some of these candidates," said Riggleman.
Not long before the election, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband was the victim of a brutal attack from a far-right activist that echoed some of the phrases at the Jan. 6 attack. MAGA supporters were sitting armed at ballot dropbox locations in Arizona.
"Again, we look at Kari Lake or Doug Mastriano, you look at some of these individuals the insanity was so right in everybody's face I think they started to say that, hey, maybe democracy is on the ballot and maybe these individuals actually mean what they say."
Over the weekend, Republicans made it clear that they don't fully understand why they lost. In the case of Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), the now-senior senator from his state, tweeted that he believes it's time to put the old school form of the "McConnell GOP" out to pasture.
"That's the thing that you have is that this tweet -- the new party for him is the fist in the air," said Riggleman of the infamous photo of Hawley showing his support for the Jan. 6 attackers. "He's saying the establishment still isn't getting the job done, he's talking about moving forward more to the Trump corner with that tweet. I think it's backward than what a lot of people are saying. I think that same thing about 'burying the old, it's time for a new party,' I think people are looking at that in the House."
He also said that watching what's happening to Kevin McCarthy and his attempts to win the Speaker of the House post.
"I think you're going to see some people maybe look at a more normal or moderate member to maybe lead the House or somebody who isn't so waffling on all of the policies of the Republican Party and GOP. I think Hawley is talking about continuing this trend towards MAGA, but I think on the other hand, when you talk about the new from the old or something new, I think you have some moderate -- some of the moderate -- or the -- I would say the minority that voted to certify the election, I think they're looking at somebody else rather than McCarthy. I think we will see chaos in the next month or two is what I think. I think it's going to be chaos."
See the full interview in the video below or at the link here:
Chaos is coming to the House: Riggleman www.youtube.com
