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McCarthy’s New Buds & Pompeo’s ’24 Curiosity

New reporting on the inside conversation on Capitol Hill about McCarthy’s “Five Saboteurs,” Herschel’s touch-up, Hakeem’s kryptonite, and Mike Pompeo’s unusual meeting.

mike pompeo
Mike Pompeo speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference in February. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Tara Palmeri
December 1, 2022

A strange dynamic is brewing in the bewitching Kevin McCarthy Speakership race: the right-wing media is actually defanging the Freedom Caucus’s attempt to tank his leadership bid. Charlie Kirk, Mark Levin, John Cardillo, Jack Posobiec, Will Chamberlain, Mike Cernovich, Ned Ryun and others are actually roasting McCarthy’s MAGA antagonists—Reps. Matt Gaetz, Bob Good, Andy Biggs, Matt Rosendale, and Ralph Norman—in defense of the minority leader. Even Tucker Carlson, who is not a fan of McCarthy and has said that his “Commitment to America” policy package contains “nothing real,” has not encouraged a MAGA rebellion.