Wow. And I thought high school Algebra class seemed long. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy reminded me of that famous Chinese philospher Ahn Too Long.
McCarthy gave a record-breaking 9 hour speech in opposition to the Biden administration’s Build Back Better plan, which passed several hours later. He and his talkfest immediately became a punchline on Twitter. Expect late night TV comedians and comedy club comedians to gleefully jump into the fray.
Here’s a cross section of comments on Twitter:
The best thing about Kevin McCarthy’s speech was Rep. Jamie Raskin’s commentary. ?? pic.twitter.com/UXRBSGWrb1
— Knowlton University (we do not confer degrees atm) (@VladaKnowlton) November 19, 2021
McCarthy has been speaking for so long that Matt Gaetz’s girlfriend graduated high school
— Santiago Mayer? (@santiagomayer_) November 19, 2021
#KevinMcKaren pic.twitter.com/CNs6VH7IP0
— Aaron Black (@BlackCatUnloads) November 19, 2021
I must admit Kevin McCarthy has accomplished one thing. America is no longer woke.
— Rep. Jamie Raskin (@RepRaskin) November 19, 2021
SNL writers just given their cold opening on a silver platter
— Jennifer 'pro-voting' Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) November 19, 2021
If you took the worst orator in the world
Gave him the worst speech in the world
And made him read it for the longest time in the world
That would be a lot like listening to Kevin McCarthy tonight.
Except, probably better.
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) November 19, 2021
This speech by @GOPLeader is the longest month of my life.
— US Rep Brendan Boyle (@RepBrendanBoyle) November 19, 2021
Kevin McCarthy stood up at the lectern for 8 hours — which is, incidentally, the only time Kevin McCarthy has ever stood for anything.
— RC Di Mezzo (@rcdimezzo) November 19, 2021
Kevin McCarthy's speech is almost as long as Lauren Boebert’s rap sheet.
— Mayo (@MayoIsSpicyy) November 19, 2021
There are fissures in the earth's crust that spew overheated gasses more coherently than Kevin McCarthy.
— David Rothkopf (@djrothkopf) November 19, 2021
Given the prep required for a colonoscopy, I know what Joe Biden was doing most of last night. Analogous to what Kevin McCarthy was doing most of last night!
— Norman Ornstein (@NormOrnstein) November 19, 2021
Everyone after Kevin McCarthy’s speech. pic.twitter.com/OzIfHJPEVp
— George Hahn (@georgehahn) November 19, 2021
Video of AOC roasting Kevin McCarthy during speech viewed over 300k times https://t.co/deNkCpNBl4
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) November 19, 2021
I’ve given birth and it was less painful than Kevin McCarthy’s speech.
— Mayo (@MayoIsSpicyy) November 19, 2021
You know, @GOPLeader's speech is so long at this point, we lost the extra hour we got for Daylight Saving. pic.twitter.com/DNq0xBQqfR
— Congressman Chuy García (@RepChuyGarcia) November 19, 2021
.@GOPLeader, at this rate we’ll miss the lunar eclipse. https://t.co/1pHOH5Y5J8
— Dina Titus (@repdinatitus) November 19, 2021
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.