Kevin McCarthy Receives 'Mean Girls Day' Tip Before Speaker Vote

Kevin McCarthy received some advice inspired by the 2004 film Mean Girls ahead of the House's vote on his proposed ouster as speaker.

Democratic Representative Sara Jacobs posted the humorous tip on X (formerly Twitter) shortly after noon on Tuesday. The House was expected to vote in the afternoon.

"Some advice for Kevin McCarthy on #MeanGirlsDay," Jacobs' tweet said. It included a split-screen image of Rachel McAdams and Lindsay Lohan, who played Regina George and Cady Heron in the teen comedy. A caption appeared in white text at the bottom of the image that read: "Just start apologizing and crying. No play it cool."

Newsweek reached out to McCarthy's office by email on Tuesday for comment.

October 3 has come to be known as "Mean Girls Day" because of one Mean Girls scene in which Jonathan Bennett, who plays the film's romantic interest, asks Lohan's character for the date, which happened on October 3. Several celebrities, politicians, restaurants and others acknowledged the unofficial holiday on Tuesday with posts on social media.

Tuesday also marked the first time since 1910 that a House speaker faced a vote on removal. Tuesday's vote was scheduled after Republican Representative Matt Gaetz filed a motion to vacate on Monday. Gaetz had suggested he would consider taking this action over the past several weeks as McCarthy guided the Republican Conference through negotiations with Democrats over efforts to avoid a government shutdown. The House passed a temporary funding bill over the weekend, shortly before the deadline.

In a press release announcing the motion, Gaetz's office said McCarthy had broken agreements he made in January with Gaetz and a small group of other conservatives in order to become speaker. Asked by reporters Monday night if he and McCarthy could reach an agreement to move forward, Gaetz said, "I think the die is cast."

"The speaker did not just fail to remediate the breach of the agreement he made with us in January. He accelerated the instances of breach," Gaetz said.

McCarthy responded to Gaetz's motion on Monday with a post on X that read, "Bring it on." Gaetz responded by tweeting, "Just did."

McCarthy said he did not intend to negotiate with House Democrats to gain their support for Tuesday's vote.

"I kept government open so the families of our troops and border agents could get paid," McCarthy tweeted Tuesday morning. "If a handful of Republicans side with Democrats to remove me for that—it's a fight worth having."