Episode #404: Master Of The House (For Now)
Ken Rudin's Political Junkie
Ken Rudin
4.7 • 635 Ratings
🗓️ 26 October 2023
⏱️ 48 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The House took some three weeks following the ouster of Kevin McCarthy, but there is a new Speaker: Mike Johnson, Republican of Louisiana. We follow the road to victory and discuss Donald Trump’s self-proclaimed role of kingmaker.
In addition:
— We talk to Paul Horcher, who as an independent Republican assemblyman from California in 1994 decided to bolt his party and vote for Democrat Willie Brown for Speaker … an act that got him recalled.
— We go back into the archives for a 2015 conversation with former Congressman Bob Livingston, himself a former potential House speaker, who talks, with regret, about the ousting by the far right of Speaker John Boehner. Bob also offers his thoughts on the assumed successor at the time, Kevin McCarthy, as well as a presidential field for 2016 that could include Donald Trump.
Music in this episode:
Burning Down the House by Talking Heads
What I Like About You by The Romantics
I’m Not the Man I Used to Be by Fine Young Cannibals
The post Episode #404: Master Of The House (For Now) appeared first on Ken Rudin's Political Junkie.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Republicans finally get their speaker, Trump faces his fixer, and memories of what happens when you cross your party. |
| 0:07.9 | We've crossed the River Jordan on the political junkie. |
| 0:11.7 | You like Ike, I like like, everybody likes I for president. |
| 0:15.8 | Add light to you, and think to me, I don't care how you quoted. |
| 0:19.7 | Come on and vote for Kennedy, vote for Kennedy, and we'll come out on top. |
| 0:26.9 | Vote for Richard Nixon and Henry Cabot Lodge, because they're the ones to lead the USA. |
| 0:36.2 | Thanks for joining us, and welcome to episode 404 of the political junkie. I'm Ken Rudin. |
| 0:43.1 | The sideshow of the House of Representatives is finally over. After ousting Kevin McCarthy, |
| 0:49.2 | ignoring Steve Scalise, embarrassing Jim Jordan, and dismissing Tom Emmer, Republicans have, with not a single |
| 0:57.2 | dissenting vote, rallied behind four-term Louisiana Congressman Mike Johnson, and he is, at last, |
| 1:04.5 | the Speaker of the House. |
| 1:06.2 | The Honorable Mike Johnson of the state of Louisiana has received 220 votes. |
| 1:11.7 | And the Honorable Hakeem Jeffries at the state of New York has received 209 votes. Therefore, the Honorable |
| 1:17.8 | Mike Johnson of the state of Louisiana, having received a majority of the votes cast, |
| 1:21.5 | is duly elected Speaker of the House of Representatives for the 118th Congress. |
| 1:29.1 | After more than three weeks of disunity, bitterness, and circular firing squads, |
| 1:34.9 | the GOP on Tuesday nominated Johnson and, one day later, got him confirmed. |
| 1:41.1 | The previous nominee, Tom Emmer of Minnesota, decided not to even go for a vote |
| 1:46.1 | once Donald Trump said he was unacceptable. Emmer's withdrawal satisfied Trump, who took full credit. |
| 1:53.0 | I absolutely must have had an impact because as soon as I did the unendorsement, and it was never |
| 1:59.8 | an endorsement. I was never treated particularly well by him, as you probably have heard, and he was at MAGA. |
| 2:06.2 | Most people are MAGA and the Republican Party. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Ken Rudin, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Ken Rudin and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.