Republican presidential candidates Jeb Bush and Chris Christie both avoided offering their support to any Republican running to replace House Speaker John Boehner.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy removed himself from the race to follow Boehner on Thursday afternoon, which sent the position up for grabs. But neither Bush nor Christie would pledge their support to any candidate or give an indication of where they were leaning.
Bush told an Iowan audience that “you will never meet someone with more integrity” than conservative insurgent Rep. Daniel Webster, R., Fla., whose bid to become speaker has the backing of the influential House Freedom Caucus.
But the former Florida governor chose not to comment on the scrum for speaker, and indicated that only he could implement necessary reforms in Washington, D.C., regardless of who replaces Boehner.
“I believe that Washington is broke and I can fix it,” Bush said. “I’m going to tell [my] story and hopefully I’ll back it up with a little advertising.”
Christie reportedly responded to the news that McCarthy quit the speaker race by saying, “I’m honestly surprised … but no one cares.” Christie has repeatedly expressed his apathy for congressional politics and compared the race to replace Boehner to the “Game of Thrones” television show on HBO.
