October 11, 2023
Who is Steve Scalise? What’s he about? How will he lead?
All good questions. I’m going to answer them in this video.
As of today –we know Representative Steve Scalise a Republican from Louisiana secured the Republican majority vote to become the next Speaker of the House. The full House has not voted yet – so he’s not the Speaker yet – but he’s definitely on the path. Before I tell you all about him — I want to thank my TikTok subscribers for voting for this story as the bonus this week, if you want to vote too make sure you subscribe to my page during my next live event or – you can follow these steps and subscribe right now.
Representative Scalise has actually been around for a long time. He’s held his seat in the first congressional district of Louisiana since 2008 and he’s been part of the House Republican leadership for years. Most recently, in 2022 he was elected as house majority leader but he’s also been the Republican whip since 2014. The whip – in case you’re wondering – is the person responsible for corralling the votes within the party whether that takes making deals or twisting arms. You catch my drift.
As for his politics…he’s obviously a Republican but he really has risen through the ranks as a solid member of the conservative wing of the Republican party. When you look at his voting record, it’s very similar to former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, including voting not to certify the electoral college votes in Arizona and Pennsylvania that secured Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory. He supported former President Trump’s so-called “Muslim travel ban” and the 2017 Trump tax cuts, he opposes the affordable care act, and any type of gun control and has called President Biden’s climate agenda “woke policy” and has said recently that climate policy “wrecks economies” and that should be more important.
Scalise took a lot of heat in 2014 when it was discovered that he gave a speech in 2002 in front of a white supremacist group funded by David Duke. The Congressman apologized and said in a statement at the time that speaking to the group “was a mistake I regret and I emphatically oppose the divisive racial and religious views groups like these hold.” At least one republican has already said this speech is why she has decided not to vote for Scalise as House Speaker.
When it comes to his personal story – one of the most recognizable moments was in 2017 when Representative Scalise was critically wounded after being shot by a gunman who opened fire at a congressional Republican baseball practice. He was in a coma for three days and when he woke up — went through multiple surgeries. For months he was away from the house as he recovered and finally came back walking with two canes three months later.
Then in August of this year he announced he was diagnosed with a “very treatable” form of blood cancer. He has been going through treatment but that diagnosis has also caused several house republicans to doubt he has it in him to withstand the grueling schedule of being Speaker while also fighting cancer.
