Appearing on a political talk show today, Newt Gingrich inferred that he believed longtime Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, (D-San Francisco), has a better chance of becoming the next Speaker of the House over current GOP front-runner Congressman Kevin McCarthy (R-Tulare).
As a former Speaker of the House himself, Republican Gingrich not only believes Democrats with take control, but he believes it could be a significant majority. The Democratic Party will need to pick up 24 seats in order to do regain command of the House.
“I think the odds are 2 out of 3 she’ll be speaker,” he said of Pelosi, who is currently House minority leader before adding “and 1 out of 3 Kevin McCarthy will be.”
After being asked if Pelosi has outlasted her image as a longtime leader, Gingrich noted her impressive fundraising abilities and vast network of connections stating, “if she becomes speaker, she will have raised the money, she will have ran the campaign, she will have crisscrossed the country, who’s going to get up and say she has no right to be speaker?” Also serving as speaker once before, Pelosi led from 2007 to 2011.
Despite this, Gingrich did admit he could be wrong while discussing the possibility of a “blow up” as several members in her party desire someone new.
Other challengers looking to rain on Pelosi’s parade include Rep. Tim Ryan, (D-Ohio) and Rep. James Clyburn, (D-S.C.) who have both voiced a run at speaker.