Scalise Drops Out of Speaker Race After Failing to Persuade GOP Holdouts

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) withdrew his name from consideration for House speaker after a group of GOP holdouts refused to vote for him. 

The Numbers: With Democrats united in backing Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) for speaker, Scalise could only afford to lose four Republican votes. However, well more than four Republicans either refused to vote for Scalise or said they would vote for Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) instead. 

David Duke Scandal: Some Republicans, like Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), say they oppose Scalise because he “attended a white supremacist conference and compared himself to David Duke.” In 2014, Scalise apologized for attending a rally by a white nationalist organization founded by Duke. The same year, a journalist recalled a conversation she had with Scalise years earlier, in which he purportedly “said he was like David Duke without the baggage.” However, Rep. Troy Carter (D-LA) defended Scalise, saying, “I have never seen him display racial intolerance. I count him amongst my friends and I wouldn’t if I felt otherwise.”

How the Media Covered It: Coverage was common across mainstream media outlets, often sensationally casting the speaker negotiations as chaotic; The Washington Times (Lean Right bias) said frustration “boiled over,” and Vox (Left bias) labeled Thursday “Scalise’s 24 hours of humiliation.” Some op-eds in left-rated outlets framed both Scalise and Jordan negatively. Update 7:21pm CT: Scalise dropped out of the race for speaker.