House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy is the odds-on favorite to replace resigning House Speaker John Boehner — but Rep. Blake Farenthold tells
Newmax TV he may not be conservative enough for the job.
"He is the natural frontrunner to move up," Farenthold, a Texas Republican and member of the Tea Party Caucus, said Friday on "The Steve Malzberg Show."
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"But I'm not sure his step forward doesn't get perceived by the tea party folks … as being Boehner 2.0."
Still, Farenthold added, "my phone has not rung with anybody who's looking at challenging Kevin."
Boehner shocked Capitol Hill Friday morning by announcing he would step down as House Speaker on Oct. 30th. Farenthold said the Ohio Republican saw the writing on the wall.
"The speaker heard the same thing that I heard when I was back in Texas over August: the grassroots folks were not too happy with his performance as speaker and were looking for a change," he told Malzberg.
"This is perfect timing … He comes off the visit of the pope which is a highlight of his professional career … He realized there's no further way up right now, this really was the high point of his speakership and he quit while he was on top."
Farenthold said whoever becomes the next House Speaker — other names being bandied about on social media include Trey Gowdy, Jeb Hensarling and Paul Ryan — they've got their work cut out for them.
"It is a thankless job where you're on the road almost 365 days a year fundraising or working up here in Washington … I wouldn't want to curse anybody with the job who didn't want it," he said.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Boehner's resignation shows the complete disarray of the GOP and its desire to shut down the government at the expense of women's health. Farenthold isn't buying it.
"They're trying to use this as another opportunity to get in front of their camera and promote the liberal agenda," he said.
"You can basically ask them any question you want and they'll pivot to something like disarray in the Republican Party or war on women."
"You can ask them what color shoes they're wearing and they'd answer with the war on women."
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