Posted on 01/28/2016 9:47:08 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
Rep. Mark Meadows, the North Carolina Republican who led the charge to oust former Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) last year, is endorsing Ted Cruz for president.
The endorsement from Meadows, one of the founding members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, comes just a few days before the Iowa caucuses, where Cruz is fighting for first place against his chief rival, Donald Trump.
Meadows called the Texas senator a "principled, conservative leader" who's willing to buck the establishment.
"On issue after issue, Cruz has told the truth and done what he said he was going to do. It may not make him a lot of friends in Washington, but it is exactly what the American people expect of their leaders," Meadows said in a statement.
Meadows last year authored a resolution known as a motion to vacate the chair, which if brought up for consideration would have forced a referendum vote on then-Speaker Boehner's leadership.
Meadows introduced the measure last July after he was temporarily stripped of his subcommittee gavel on the House Oversight panel as retribution for voting against a procedural rule on President Obama's trade agenda. His subcommittee chairmanship was reinstated a few days later following outcry from conservatives.
His resolution never came up for a vote, but the threat of drama playing out on the House floor had a role in pushing Boehner toward retirement midway through the 114th Congress.
Not a single fellow senator has endorsed Cruz. But the Texas Republican has several endorsements from House conservatives with whom he has joined forces during debates such as the 2013 government shutdown.
Lawmakers in the roughly 30-member House Freedom Caucus have not rallied around a single candidate for president. The handful of members who have endorsed a candidate are largely split between Cruz and Rand Paul.
Trump, meanwhile, still does not have any endorsements from Capitol Hill Republicans.
Other Freedom Caucus members who have endorsed Cruz include Reps. Jim Bridenstine (Okla.), Mo Brooks (Ala.), Ken Buck (Colo.), Paul Gosar (Ariz.), Jody Hice (Ga.), Alex Mooney (W.Va.) and Randy Weber (Texas).
I can hear it now... “Who?”, “Faux conservatives”, blah, blah, blah... While Trump gathers an increasing number of endorsements from the GOPe and promises to work with his friends Pelosi and Schumer...
Why does anyone believe the completely bogus, MSM manufactured claim, that House Speaker John Boehner was “ousted” from his job?
The guy resigned - either because he got tired of the job, or because he wanted to make more money as a lobbyist, or because he believed there was a good chance the GOP would lose the 2016 presidential election and he, Boehner, would get some of the blame.
How can anyone believe that the Speaker of the House was evicted from his job by a 30 member coalition of Conservatives and Libertarians, led by some Congressman from North Carolina whom 99% of American voters have never heard of before?
Hendersonville Lightning: Meadows endorses Cruz (North Carolina Congressman)
Believe what you want to believe but, just to be clear, 30 (actually 38) members of the House Freedom Caucus didn’t “oust” Boehner, per se. Meadows, with the full support of Jim Jordan, Chairman of the caucus, introduced a motion to vacate the chair. A head count revealed that Boehner could not win a vote to retain the chair, so Boehner “resigned”. There’s a bit more to it, particularly coordinating with members of the conservative, 172-member Republican Study Committee prior to the motion to vacate to ensure that Boehner didn’t have the votes. Bottom line: Boehner did not give up the speakership of his own volition.
But here's what makes no sense...
One month after “forcing” Boehner to resign, and after “forcing” Kevin McCarthy to drop out of the race, about 70% of the Freedom Caucus voted to elect RINO Paul Ryan!
I’m aware of that as well and, to be honest with you, I don’t understand why most of the Freedom Caucus supported Ryan either. I’ve been told that it was the result of a negotiation in which the Freedom Caucus was assured that things like committee assignments, access to the speaker, input to legislation, etc. would change under Ryan.
Yes, I know it was followed by the Omnibus spending bill, so it appears that somebody lied...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.