Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade was left with a bit of egg on his face on Friday when he sounded the alarm that House Speaker Mike Johnson had lost yet another Republican vote from the GOP’s razor-thin majority, further placing Johnson’s bid to retain the gavel in doubt.
Unfortunately for the Fox News star, it appears he was taken in by an online joke from a now-former congressman.
Speaking to Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), whose name has been floated as a possible alternative if Johnson can’t pull enough Republican skeptics over to his side, Kilmeade pointed out that Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) had been joined by another GOP rebel who is a definite no on Johnson.
“Well, I got bad news,” the Fox morning host declared. “Congressman Bob Good just tweeted out he will not be voting for Mike Johnson.”
Indeed, shortly before Kilmeade’s interview with Jordan, Good sarcastically posted on X (formerly Twitter) that he would “NOT be voting for Mike Johnson for Speaker” during Friday’s House vote.
Jordan, for his part, explained to Kilmeade why it didn’t matter that Good was saying he wouldn’t support the current speaker.
“Well, remember Brian, Bob Good has left. Maybe there is some other name,” the Ohio congressman said, prompting Kilmeade to ask the control room: “Can we check that?”
Meanwhile, Jordan pointed out that Good “lost that close primary” to John McGuire for his Virginia seat last year, leading to McGuire eventually winning the general election and being sworn in this week as a new congressman.
“John will be voting for for Mike Johnson for speaker. So I think it’s still just Thomas Massie indicated he won’t support the speaker, but I’m hopeful that everyone else will,” Jordan added.
“All right. Good point,” a chastened Kilmeade responded. “He’s not there anymore, so I shouldn’t’ve brought that up. My bad.”
As of Friday morning, only Massie had said he was a definitive “no” on Johnson among the GOP caucus, who hold a very narrow majority in the House. Therefore, the speaker can only lose a handful of votes from the Republican side to win re-election as the House’s leader.
“You can pull all my fingernails out, you can shove bamboo up in them, you can start cutting off my fingers,” Massie said on Thursday night. “I am not voting for Mike Johnson tomorrow, and you can take that to the bank.”
While a number of conservative hardliners have expressed reservations about supporting Johnson over debt and spending, many of whom also initially blocked Kevin McCarthy’s path to the speakership in 2023, they have largely been evasive about where they’ll land during Friday’s vote. Meanwhile, Johnson is banking on Donald Trump’s endorsement to carry him to the gavel, with the president-elect calling him a “fine man of great ability” on Friday.