House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy took a jab at his Democratic colleagues after they took a group picture with the departing members of their caucus who lost races in 2020.
“Here’s a group photo of me with all the House Republicans who lost races this year,” McCarthy posted on Twitter, accompanied by a photo of himself alone.
The post was in response to a picture of House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and the Democratic House members who lost their races in the 2020 Election.
“@LeaderyHoyer takes a picture with Democrats not coming back next year after losing on Election Day,” Politico reporter John Bresnahan wrote on Twitter. “Now telling a story about elections he lost. ‘Do not lose heart,’ Hoyer said.”
Here’s a group photo of me with all the House Republicans who lost races this year. https://t.co/hmXdK0TA0Z pic.twitter.com/DypRSCts7K
— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) December 9, 2020
Besides the presidential election, 2020 was largely a disappointing year for Democrats. Expecting a “blue wave” in the lead up to the Nov. 3 election, Democrats were stunned by a GOP uprising across the country.
While Republicans could not sweep their way to the majority, they did pick up several seats in a year that polling showed they faced almost certain losses. When the dust settled, Republicans won all 27 races that were rated as “toss ups” by the Cook Political Report.
The GOP’s gains in the House and their victories in state legislative races have the party feeling bullish about retaking the lower chamber in 2022, especially after next year’s redistricting process, which will be mostly controlled by Republicans.
Meanwhile, Democrats were left with a may pessimistic outlook after things failed to fall their way in 2020.
“I mean, we are not well-positioned for 2022. We’re just not. It’s really unfair for [Pelosi] to stay in that position, that she can hold the gavel for two more years when we all are assuming that 2022 is probably going to be a bloodbath,” a Democratic lawmaker told the Hill after the election.
“Not only did we not pick up 10 or 15 seats, it’s going to be a net loss for House Dems. This is supposed to be an opportunity for us to expand the map, grow the majority, and we squandered that, especially knowing how important it was to do that in 2020, to build that bulwark, that cushion that we need for 2022.”
