House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter (R-Rainsville) took to the airwaves during Friday's broadcast of Alabama Public Television's "Capitol Journal" to revisit the prolonged saga of now-former House Majority Leader Scott Stadthagen's (R-Hartselle) ouster and leaked surreptitiously recorded audio from a House Caucus meeting on February 13.
Ledbetter, appearing alongside recently elected House Majority Leader Paul Lee (R-Dothan), was offered the opportunity to "clarify" his now infamous remarks that he "could give a shit" about the Republican Party.
According to Ledbetter, House members were concerned that if Stadthagen were to win the post, as he had on Saturday, party bylaws requiring him to adhere to neutrality could jeopardize House Republicans' efforts to protect incumbent members in primary challenges.
"I think the thing about it is it was a private meeting," he said. "You know, and it was a personal conversation. And my thing was we always supported members. I mean, our record pretty much shows that — the money we've raised for them over the last, since being Majority Leader and Speaker, and certainly having a supermajority, maintaining supermajority, growing on that supermajority, having larger numbers. And there's a lot of distraction, maybe that the Majority Leader is going to try to run for that post."
"I had a lot of conversation with probably 15 or 20 members that had been in my office concerned about, you can't do both. The bylaws of the party says you got to be neutral in a Republican primary. And so that was kind of the discussion."
Ledbetter's remarks contradicted those he had made during a February 12 press gaggle about a potential change at Majority Leader.
"Changing subjects, could we be looking at a leadership change with the Majority Leader running for ALGOP chair?" 1819 News' Trent Baker asked.
"I don't have no idea about that," Ledbetter replied. "That's a caucus issue. That's not mine."
What immediately followed Ledbetter's remarks was a contentious emergency caucus meeting that ultimately led Stadthagen to agree to step aside for a "leave of absence."
Five days later, Stadthagen permanently resigned the post.
During the "Capitol Journal" appearance, Ledbetter insisted he was acting in defense of the Republican caucus members and maintained that the body's record of work under his leadership spoke for itself.
"My thing in no way, I mean, we certainly respect the party," he said. "I apologize if it come out the wrong way for them. It had nothing to do with that. It was just saying to my members, listen, 'I'm here for you. I'm going to be — I'm going to have your back.' And I would, it's kind of like a coach talking to his kids in the locker room. That's kind of what I was trying to do is just to ensure them, you know, don't worry about what's going on with the party. Those people will do a good job. They'll pick who they think they need and will work with them."
"But the fact of the matter is my job is here," Ledbetter continued. "My job is to be Speaker and be over the House and to help you get reelected and to make sure you got the available funds and everything you need for the campaign. So that was it. It was just reassurance to them that you're my focus. This is it right here. And certainly, the party people are super smart people. They'll do a great job in selecting who they think should be the next leader. I respect that, but I think our record speaks for itself. I mean, you know, since I've been Speaker, Alabama has become the most conservative legislative body in the country. And so we're proud of that. We're proud of the accomplishments we've had this quadrennium alone. We've already cut $1.5 billion worth of taxes."
He added, "So along with the CHOOSE Act — I mean, the list is so long. And our members have done a great job. And I think they are due all the respect that they need. I hate that that happened. It's never happened since I've been here. And it's a betrayal of trust. And it's not me that they're betraying. It's the 76 members of the caucus. And so, it's one of those things, what if I had it to do [over] — I'm one of those that don't use a lot of that kind of language. And if I had it to do over, certainly I wouldn't have then. But I think every, every one — even the one it recorded, it understood what I was doing. And I mean, you can ask any of the members. I think they would take, of course, we don't get into caucus issues, but they would tell you that he was taking up for us and we're trying to move forward. That's what we needed to do. We got a job to do here. If that's what the former leader wanted to do, that was his, it was his calling. But we've got a responsibility, I've got a responsibility here. And I wanted to ensure them that I was going to do that."
Jeff Poor is the editor-in-chief of 1819 News and host of "The Jeff Poor Show," heard Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-noon on Mobile's FM Talk 106.5. To connect or comment, email [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @jeff_poor.
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