Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) is finding all the right ways to kiss up to Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).
The Georgia politician bid $100,000 to take home a tube of McCarthy’s used chapstick when an impromptu fundraiser took over a conference between House Republicans on Wednesday.
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Politico’s Olivia Beavers tweeted about the unplanned auction, writing, “During GOP conference today, House Rs did about a 15-min fundraising auction for chapstick used by Speaker McCarthy.”
“The winner: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), whose winning bid was $100,000, her Spox confirms to me.”
While Greene ended up writing a big check, she reportedly didn’t take interest in the item until after McCarthy began to add on extra perks.
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Beavers explained, “As bidding went on, McCarthy would sweeten the deal, throwing in agreeing to attend a dinner with donors/supporters for whoever wins, Spox confirmed.”
Greene seemed quite pleased with her new purchase, which she showed off on social media after the auction.
Democrats were disgusted by the stunt, however.
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) slammed Republicans as she reminded voters about the looming debt ceiling deadline.
“They doing this insane chapstick shit while the country teeters on default,” she tweeted. “Wild.”
Omar’s colleague, Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.) noted how differently each party is handling a potential financial crisis.
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“In today’s Democratic caucus meeting, we discussed how devastating a default would be for American families and what we can do to get the GOP to take this seriously,” he wrote. “In the House GOP meeting, they auctioned off Kevin McCarthy’s used chapstick.”
On Tuesday morning, McCarthy told the press he was optimistic about striking a debt ceiling deal to avoid a default, which some estimates say could happen as soon as early June.
“I believe in life you don’t give up,” he told reporters. “We are working together now, we are finally meeting.”
