Kevin McCarthy’s bid to become House Speaker is under threat after a group of far-right lawmakers dubbed the “Never Kevin” caucus vowed to vote against him.
In an attempt to shore up support, Mr McCarthy’s backers have been sporting “OK”, or “Only Kevin”, buttons in the corridors of power at the US Capitol.
CNN reporter Melanie Zanona posted a photo of the “OK” buttons to Twitter, prompting a succession of responses mocking the apparent lack of enthusiasm for Mr McCarthy.
“This is like something out of Veep,” wrote Noah Kutner, a Democratic fundraiser.
“It’s like he’s running for student council president. This is just so juvenile,” wrote Twitter user @capeannsky.
Alyssa Franke, a digital media director for Senator Kirsten Gilibrand, wrote: “Oh yeah, that sounds like a ringing endorsement. ‘Kevin McCarthy! He’s ... ok.’”
“I see Kevin McCarthy’s messaging geniuses kept their jobs after election day,” Alice Visocchi, an author at The Pennsylvania Independent wrote.
Author and political pundit Molly Jong-Fast tweeted: “Because ‘meh’ was already taken.”
After the Republicans poor showing in the midterm elections, Mr McCarthy was challenged for the Speaker’s gavel by Andy Biggs, a far-right GOP Congressman from Arizona.
Mr Biggs has received support from a small number of Republican colleagues including Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz.
Mr McCarthy needs to secure 218 votes when the election is held to replace Nancy Pelosi on 3 January. The five “Never Kevin” Republicans currently hold the numbers to upset his chances due to the GOP’s narrow margin in the House.
Should Mr McCarthy fail to gain the votes, political commentators have speculated that other members of the GOP’s leadership group such as Steve Scalise or Jim Jordan could put themselves forward.
The disarray among the House members of the Republican Party has been gleefully made fun of by their critics.
“They can reuse them as ‘Over Kevin’ buttons when he loses,” the Lincoln Project tweeted.
