NPR’s Juana Summers talks with Leon Panetta, one time a member of the House of Representatives, about what comes next now that Kevin McCarthy has been voted out as speaker.
JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
This is live Special Coverage from NPR News. I’m Juana Summers. We’ve been listening to California Republican Congressman Kevin McCarthy. Hours ago, in a historic vote, a small faction of Republicans, along with most Democrats, voted to oust him as speaker of the House. He’s taking some questions now, so we may jump back into that in a little bit, but we’re going to talk about what we’ve just heard. With us are Leon Panetta, who has held several jobs in government, including White House chief of staff during the Clinton administration and a one-time member of the House of Representatives. We’re also joined by NPR political correspondent Susan Davis.
And Leon Panetta, I want to start with you. Briefly, just give us your reaction to what’s happened today and what we’ve heard from former Speaker Kevin McCarthy just now.
LEON PANETTA: Well, yes, I think what you heard is kind of the nice-guy McCarthy. And he is a nice guy. He’s someone who obviously had good relationships with a number of members. But the tragedy here is that, despite the fact that he was a nice guy, he was a failed leader. And the reason he failed is because, too often, he capitulated to his opponents and ultimately lost his credibility and his trust as a result of that in the hope that ultimately his opponents would somehow be loyal to him. I think, in doing that, he really undermined his credibility as speaker, and that cost him today.
SUMMERS: Sue Davis, I want to bring you in here. I know that you have covered Congressman McCarthy for some time as he ascended to the speakership. What did you hear here? And help us understand how we got to this point.
SUSAN DAVIS, BYLINE: We got to this part because Kevin McCarthy negotiated himself into this position. Kevin…
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