The far-right Trump loyalists in the House are turning on each other as Kevin McCarthy launches an impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden in an apparent attempt to stave off a rebellion led by his own party.
Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz feuded openly on Twitter as the two members of Congress fell over each other trying to take credit for an impeachment push that so far looks doomed to fail in the House, to say nothing of its future in the Senate.
Mr McCarthy announced the inquiry on Tuesday. His decision was an abrupt, unexplained reversal from his own vow not to launch an impeachment inquiry without a vote, a move that appears to have been taken to shield his own members from the embarrassment of watching such a vote fail to pass.
The spat between Mr Gaetz and Ms Greene began when the former touted his own support for the prospect of pursuing the president’s impeachment, provoking Ms Greene’s wrath.
“Correction my friend. I introduced articles of impeachment against Joe Biden for his corrupt business dealings in Ukraine & China while he was Vice President on his very first day in office. You wouldn’t cosponsor those and I had to drag you kicking and screaming to get you to cosponsor my articles on the border. Who’s really been making the push?” she tweeted.
Ms Greene’s tweet is technically correct, and illuminates how obsessed the far-right has been with impeaching Joe Biden and punishing the Democratic Party since the failure of a pro-Trump mob to halt Mr Biden’s ascent to the White House on January 6. That impeachment push in January of 2021 drew even less support than the current Republican effort, which continues to be pilloried by the GOP and their Democratic rivals alike.
The most vocal Republican in the House against the effort, by far, is Rep Ken Buck. Mr Buck, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, has said that the “evidence” uncovered by his party has not actually proven or even clearly suggested that Mr Biden or his family members committed any crime.
“The time for impeachment is the time when there’s evidence linking President Biden – if there’s evidence linking President Biden to a high crime or misdemeanour. That doesn’t exist right now,” he said on MSNBC.
His take has enraged other conservatives in the House, including Ms Greene, who has called for his removal from the House Judiciary Committee. Ms Greene was removed from her own caucuses after she “liked” a comment on Facebook that clearly endorsed violence against Democrats.
The Senate Republican caucus has largely remained silent on the issue, with the exception of far-right members who have wholeheartedly embraced the GOP’s conspiracy mill. Mitch McConnell, leader of the Senate GOP caucus, has refused to comment; other members of leadership have joined in on criticising the inquiry.
"We've got so many things we need to be focusing on," said Sen Shelley Moore Capito, speaking to Axios. "I don't see the glaring evidence that says we need to move forward. I didn't see it in the Trump case, and voted against it, I don't see it in this case."
