Claire McCaskill Gives ‘Coward’ Kevin McCarthy A Chilling Halloween Prediction

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Former Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) says a government shutdown seems inevitable as House Republicans can’t agree on a spending deal to keep federal agencies open.

And that, she said on MSNBC on Wednesday night, could force House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to give up his leadership post in a matter of weeks.

“Here’s the problem he has: In order to keep the government from shutting down or to open the government back up, he’s gonna have to go to Democratic voters,” McCaskill said. “And that means he can’t be speaker anymore.”

She was referring to a hard-line group of Republican extremists who’ve threatened to boot McCarthy from the speaker’s chair if he makes any deal with Democratic lawmakers.

But McCaskill urged McCarthy to do it anyway.

“Kevin, here’s the thing: It’s gonna be painful,” she said. “Tear off the frickin’ Band-Aid. Confront those extreme people in your caucus and say, ‘Take me out if you can, but I’m going to do what’s best for this country and frankly what’s best for the party.’”

There’s just one problem with that.

“He seems like he’s really a bad negotiator and a really big coward,” she said.

McCaskill said a shutdown seems inevitable, and McCarthy will need Democrats to end it ― which will tempt those extremists to turn against the speaker.

That could lead to some chilling news for McCarthy before Halloween.

“I predict before we say ‘trick-or-treat,’ we’ll be calling somebody else speaker,” she said.

See the full conversation with MSNBC’s Alex Wagner and Joy Reid below: