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Carson: ‘Kudos’ to McCarthy for dropping out of Speaker race

by Jesse Byrnes - 10/08/15 1:20 PM ET

Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson on Thursday offered “kudos” to Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) after the majority leader abruptly dropped out of the race to become the next Speaker.

“I say kudos to Rep. McCarthy for putting others before himself,” the retired neurosurgeon said on CNN’s “Wolf.”

{mosads}”This is not something we see very often in Washington,” Carson continued. “I hope it’s a trait that will be emulated by others as time goes on.”

Carson declined to name who he would support to replace outgoing Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), saying he’s “for the logical wing” and that he liked current the candidates, such as Rep. Daniel Webster (R-Fla.).

House Republicans were slated to vote Thursday to nominate their choice for Speaker when McCarthy dropped out of the race, suggesting he did not have enough votes to get the top position.

“I think I shocked some of you, huh?” McCarthy said to open a brief news conference publicly announcing his decision to stay on as majority leader.

Tags Ben Carson Kevin McCarthy