One of the eight Republicans who voted with Democrats to oust Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., from the House speakership told FOX News the former leader did not keep promises to his caucus and called the ouster an opportunity for the GOP to unite.
"This is really an opportunity rather than to divide our conference, bring us together, because certainly we were fractured up until this point," Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina said Thursday on "The Story."
"I see this as a huge opportunity to look at the challenges we have within our conference and then unite together," she added. "We have multiple individuals who have thrown their hat in the ring for speaker. They're all good men. I believe they're all honest people."
Reps. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Steve Scalise, R-La., both announced intentions to run for speaker. In what could be another unprecedented occurrence following the first successful ouster of a House speaker in history, a handful of Republicans also floated the idea of nominating former President Donald Trump for the role.
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Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, said he plans to nominate Trump next week, while Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., told FOX News on Wednesday he would make a terrific speaker.
Mace said Jordan and Scalise are solid choices, and also mentioned she spoke with Republican Study Committee Chairman Kevin Hern of Oklahoma in commenting on the matter.
Hern reportedly spoke inside a meeting of Texas Republican lawmakers Thursday afternoon in which he talked about his business background. The conservative lawmaker is widely expected to officially join Scalise and Jordan in the running.
Asked about comments McCarthy made about her — in which he told reporters she is "a whole 'nother story" — Mace countered the ousted speaker failed to keep promises on budget legislation, among other priorities.
"I was very public about the deals I negotiated with the former speaker and the timeline for those deals. All of that is public record, and, you know, he got fired Tuesday night for not keeping his promises," Mace said, adding that a reported telephone exchange between McCarthy and a top member of Mace's congressional staff was an attempt to intimidate her by-proxy and an example of questionable behavior.
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"I'm going to protect the workers that we have on the Hill, and I want to look forward rather than divide our party anymore. I think we should all be looking forward at the opportunities ahead to unite together, to rally around a new speaker and do what we promised the American people we would do: finish off these spending bills," she said.
Mace also rejected comments from Rep. Dave Joyce, R-Ohio, who was pressed on another network Thursday whether people like her should be ejected from the GOP conference for ousting its speaker.
"If it was up to me, I'd vote for it — it's a waste of time having conversations with these people," Joyce said Wednesday on CNN.
Mace responded that Joyce's comments were simply similar to other rumors floating around the Capitol.
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