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Reid stands by remarks about GOP infighting

by Jonathan Easley - 12/11/12 10:55 PM ET

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is standing by his comments Tuesday that GOP infighting over the “fiscal cliff” negotiations has reached the highest levels of the House, even after some Republicans took to Twitter to accuse him of making up rumors.

“I just got a message here that there’s a battle going on between McCarthy and Ryan and the Majority Leader in the House,” Reid said at his weekly press conference on Capitol Hill, pausing to remember Rep. Eric Cantor’s name before a reporter shouted it out.

{mosads}“Thanks,” Reid continued. “And Boehner. And that’s the problem going on. Boehner’s having trouble finding help from his leadership as to what they’re to do. But, the American people are suffering, and I repeat what Maria – I’m sorry, what Claire McCaskill said, the Speaker has to make an important decision, whether he’s going to save his speakership or the country.”

While there have been no reports of squabbling between Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), House Budget Committee chairman Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), or Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Ca.), Reid spokesman Adam Jentleson told The Hill in an email that Reid did not misspeak.

The criticism is consistent with comments Reid made last week, when he compared Republicans to the New York Jets, saying the GOP doesn’t know who its quarterback is.

Boehner has been criticized recently by some in his party for his decision to strip four members – Reps. Justin Amash (R-Mich.), Walter Jones (R-N.C.) and David Schweikert (R-Ariz.), Tim Huelskamp (R-Kan.) – of high-profile committee assignments.

But Republicans deny that any tension exists among House GOP leadership regarding the “fiscal cliff” negotiations, and quickly adopted the hashtag #HarryReidRumors on Twitter.

Rory Cooper, Cantor’s communications director, tweeted: