"I will say this. You'll be shocked, probably. I think the country needs a strong Republican Party," Pelosi said earlier on MSNBC. "And they can't. – This is not it, and it is not our judgment about what it should be – it's their judgment. But it's a missed opportunity for them."
McCarthy disagreed, saying Pelosi's statement is not an objective "judgment" as stated, but her opinion.
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House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
"Americans thought something different because the four years that she was speaker, she lost seats in every election. We just won the majority 90 days ago when every other Republican entity has lost," he said.
"So I think we have a very strong Republican Party [that's] much more diverse."
In that regard, he pointed to the official State of the Union response being offered by Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and the Spanish-language response from Rep. Juan Ciscomani, R-Ariz.
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Juan Ciscomani is the Republican nominee in Arizona's 6th Congressional District. (Ciscomani for Congress Campaign)
"I think this party is more broad representing more people with better ideas," McCarthy said.
McCarthy later commented on the state of debt ceiling negotiations with the White House, nodding to Republicans' fervent belief there should not be a blanket increase without cuts being made.
Anchor Martha MacCallum told McCarthy she was about to interview White House economic adviser Eugene Sperling, and asked the speaker if the administration is likely to accept GOP demands for spending cuts.
"Well, you have to. Otherwise there won't be a debt ceiling increase," he said.
"Look, we've got four months to do this. You're going to tell me that you can't find waste in Washington right now? I could point out hundreds in ability. I had a great conversation with the president just last week. He said we continue to negotiate."
Rep Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
"I think we can solve this problem long before the deadline, put a curve back down because our debt today in the next ten years will pay $8 trillion just in interest. We're on this debt is larger than our economy by 20%."
If both sides cannot find appropriations or expenditures to eliminate for FY-2024, they aren't trying hard enough, he said.
The Speaker noted no American can operate their household holding 1/5 more debt than their net worth, commenting that the federal government shouldn't be allowed to either.