House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy drops bid for speaker

WASHINGTON, Oct. 8 (UPI) -- California Rep. Kevin McCarthy, who had been under fire for comments on the Benghazi investigation, abruptly dropped his bid to become speaker of the House on Thursday.

It is unclear exactly why McCarthy, widely expected as the successor to outgoing House speaker John Boehner, dropped out of the contest. He faced opposition in the nominating race on Thursday from House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz of Utah and Rep. Daniel Webster of Florida.

In dropping out of the race, McCarthy told Republicans, "I'm not the one to unify the party," said Rep. Peter King of New York.

Last week, McCarthy, the current number two in House leadership, made comments on Fox News suggesting the House Select Committee on Benghazi was targeting Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.

The room was stunned as McCarthy announced he is "not the right one" to lead the conference. At 8am he was at a forum making his pitch.

— Rep. Bill Huizenga (@RepHuizenga) October 8, 2015