Republican Rep. Tim Burchett’s vote to oust Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) from his role as Speaker of the House was “sealed” when McCarthy “mocked” the Tennessee congressman for praying on whether or not to support his colleague’s continued hold on the gavel, Burchett said in a CNN interview Tuesday. While declining to get into the details of what McCarthy allegedly said, Burchett maintained that it was enough to convince him to join seven others in putting an end to McCarthy’s nine-month run as Speaker. “When someone mocks me like that and mocks my religion—and honestly the Bible is pretty clear about God being mocked—so that’s what sealed it right there for me. I said: ‘this is not the quality or the character of person that I want as Speaker of the United States,’” Burchett told Jake Tapper on The Lead. After the interview, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins recalled that when she spoke with Burchett on Monday night, he was “leaning toward” voting against McCarthy.
