House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is facing questions about why he chose to direct the launch of an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden without a vote.
Earlier this month, McCarthy told Breitbart he would not launch an impeachment inquiry without a House vote, which would require 218 Republicans to back the move.
But on Tuesday, he announced he was directing committees to begin such proceedings without a vote.
CNN’s Manu Raju confronted McCarthy on Wednesday about “what changed.”
The House speaker shot back, “You know what’s interesting to me? You are a reporter for CNN, correct? I just laid out to you a lot of allegations…”
“Why did you change your word?” Raju interjected.
McCarthy argued former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) “changed the precedent” in 2019 when she directed the launch of the first impeachment inquiry against Trump without a vote.
Watch the video below:
Speaker McCarthy gets into back and forth with @mkraju over his flip-flop on starting impeachment inquiry without a House vote:
— The Recount (@therecount) September 13, 2023
Raju: “I’m curious why you changed your position.”
McCarthy: “I never changed my position.”
Raju: “You told Breitbart 12 days ago you’d have a vote.” pic.twitter.com/BCJjWNZ3sF
The top Republican proceeded to lay out a series of allegations against Biden.
Still, Raju pressed him on the lack of a vote, and McCarthy shot back, “Why don’t you ask the other questions [about Biden]?”
“I’m curious why you changed your position,” Raju stated.
However, McCarthy insisted, “I never changed my position.”
He claimed Raju does not “care about any of the answers” about the allegations against Biden.