Media Contact
Damien Sharp
Yesterday, Kevin McCarthy was ousted from his role as Speaker of the House—a move made successful by eight hard-right members of McCarthy’s own party.
Mabel Baerezin, professor at Cornell University, is a comparative sociologist whose work explores the intersection of political institutions with an emphasis on challenges to democratic cohesion. She says that with our government stalled, our democracy is threatened like never before.
Mabel Berezin
Professor of Sociology at Cornell University
“We are slouching towards political chaos. The media blames a group of rogue Republicans led by Matt Gaetz for the ouster of House Speaker McCarthy. Gaetz and company were the immediate cause, but the event was long in the making. It was inevitable an outcome of the noxious combination of egotism and timidity that has dominated Republican party politics since the spring of 2016—when multiple Republican primary contenders couldn’t work together to step out of the race—thus paving the way for Trump’s nomination.
“Event by event, Republicans backed down before Trump or thought that they would be the one to turn him around with various concessions. In the end, yesterday was the culmination of the erosion of political courage among Republicans tout court. Our government is stalled, and our democracy is threatened as never before.”
