Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) tore into a small group of Republican lawmakers during multiple interviews on Wednesday for blocking Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) bid to become the new House Speaker.

The Republicans who are blocking McCarthy’s bid included Reps. Dan Bishop (NC), Lauren Boebert (CO), Byron Donalds (FL), Josh Brecheen (OK), Mike Cloud (TX), Andrew Clyde (GA), Eli Crane (AZ), Matt Gaetz (FL), Bob Good (VA), Paul Gosar (AZ), Andy Harris (MD), Anna Paulina Luna (FL), Mary Miller (IL), Ralph Norman (SC), Andy Ogles (TN), Scott Perry (PA), Matt Rosendale (MT), Chip Roy (TX), Keith Self (TX), and Andy Biggs (AZ).

Speaking to reporters, Crenshaw unloaded on the 20 Republicans, saying, “I’m tired of your stupid platitudes that some consultant told you to say on the campaign trail, alright.”

“Behind closed doors tell us what you actually want, or shut the f**** up,” he said. “They need to be men and adults and say what they want, instead of playing these little games, that’s what we’re asking.”

“That’s what I’ve asked them. Some of them are my friends. Stop saying platitudes like, ‘Washington is broken. We can’t do the status quo,’” he continued. “They want to pull the pins on the grenades and lock the doors.”

“They want to pull the pins on the grenades and lock the doors,” he said of the effort.

— Dylan Wells (@dylanewells) January 4, 2023

“I think the 20 holdouts are continuing to show themselves to be unbelievably unserious. Now they’re just choosing random people. They don’t have a plan. It’s almost like they want to make the point that they don’t have a plan,” he continued. “They have zero ability to articulate what they want that would cause them to vote yes. It is utterly confusing, and then they get mad at us for criticizing, it’s actually quite hilarious the self-victimization that occurs.”

Crenshaw later gave a fiery interview on Fox News Radio with host Guy Benson where he called out the 20 Republicans’ lack of preparation and planning for the alternative they were willing to back instead of McCarthy.

“They had no plan. They have some list of demands that mostly have been met,” he said. “They basically closed all the doors and pulled the pins on the grenades and are staring at each other like, what the hell do we do? Everyone is trying to work with them in good faith to give them an offramp, because this is a terrible situation for them personally. They are responsible for holding up a GOP agenda. They could be responsible for Democrats pulling some really clever deals, maybe forcing a plurality vote, maybe potentially getting a rules package the Democrats want.”

“Then they insulted Donald Trump. Did you hear that part earlier?” Crenshaw said. “Lauren Boebert, and you know, because she’s really served this country, so she gets up and she basically tells Donald Trump to eff off. That’s what she just did. I couldn’t believe it. I mean, I just couldn’t believe it.”

When asked if nominating another candidate for Speaker would change the dynamic, Crenshaw said that it would not, which was why “we can’t give in.”

“And so those of us who are standing against this, we’re standing for principle. They are standing for notoriety,” he said. “They’re standing for that extra news because nobody ever cares about them and they’re frustrated by that.”

He said that the 20 Republicans have pushed everyone else into a corner, which has galvanized all the other Republicans’ support for McCarthy.

“So now we’re saying we won’t vote for anyone but McCarthy. That’s why we’re saying it, because we cannot let the terrorists win,” he said. “That’s basically what’s happening.”

Crenshaw, a former NAVY Seal, later addressed backlash from some Republicans and conservatives who were mad that he compared the 20 Republicans to “terrorists.”

“It’s a figure of speech. People need to lighten up and grow some f***ing thick skin,” he said. “That’s what I think about that. I am so sick of like these hurt feelings. I already got criticized earlier because I called them something else. You know what? You step into the octagon, be ready to get punched in the face.”

California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency Wednesday ahead of yet another severe weather system expected to slam the state.

Severe weather battered California since last week when an “atmospheric river” brought high winds and heavy rains to the northern part of the state. Another storm battered other parts of the state days later, bringing dangerous and even deadly flooding. The storms are expected to continue for some time.

“California is mobilizing to keep people safe from the impacts of the incoming storm,” Newsom said in a statement. “This state of emergency will allow the state to respond quickly as the storm develops and support local officials in their ongoing response.”

According to National Weather Service maps, most of northern and central California are under weather alerts. The northern coastal region of the state, from Monterey County all the way north to Shasta County near the border with Oregon, is under high wind warnings. The northeastern part of the state, especially around the Sierra Nevada mountain range, is under a winter storm warning. Scattered parts of northern California are under flash flood warnings.

Both high wind and winter storm warnings extend into the edges of the San Joaquin Valley in the central part of the state, according to the NWS station in Hancock. Most of the valley is under a wind advisory. A thin stretch of the region from Mariposa County to Kern County is under a flash flood warning.

In Southern California, the storm is expected to bring coastal flooding and high waves. The coastal regions of Los Angeles County are under a high surf advisory, while coastal Orange County is under a coastal flooding advisory. Coastal San Diego County is under a high surf warning, the NWS station in San Diego forecasts.

State officials have warned that this storm could compound the damage already done by the previous storms; the ground is still saturated with moisture, which increases the likelihood of flooding, rapid runoff, and mudslides, The New York Times reported. The high winds would also be likely to knock down trees and power lines, causing widespread power outages, the NWS added via The Washington Post.

The latest storm is the product of a “bomb cyclone,” a period of rapid intensification caused by a rapid drop in atmospheric pressure, followed by a rush of high winds caused by the resulting vacuum. A similar weather event caused the severe blizzard which bombarded 37 of the 50 United States over the Christmas weekend. California avoided the first “bomb cyclone,” but has been hammered by storms ever since. The latest storm is also expected to be just one in a blitz of several storms over the next few days.

“This is storm one of at least three or four,” NWS Monterey meteorologist Brayden Murdock told Politico. “The forecast looks quite unsettled through the week and into the weekend, even next week.”

The first storm hit the state on December 27, bringing flooding to much of the San Francisco Bay Area and heavy snowfall to the Sierra Nevadas. A second storm buffeted the region on New Year’s Eve.