"Embarrassing": Biden Slams Republicans As They Fail To Elect New Speaker

President Joe Biden on Wednesday called rival Republicans' struggle to select a speaker for their majority in the US House of Representatives "embarrassing" and said the world was watching.

"I just think it's a little embarrassing it's taken so long in the way they're dealing with one another," Biden told reporters before a trip to Kentucky.

"And the rest of the world is looking. They're looking at -- you know -- can we get our act together," Biden said.

The Republicans narrowly won a majority in the House of Representatives in November elections after Biden's Democrats fared better than expected.

But the party has been torn by divisions with its hard-right flank.

Kevin McCarthy, the House Republican leader, has failed to win a majority in five votes and counting since Tuesday, holding up business in the chamber. It marks the first time since 1923 that the House has not elected a speaker on the first ballot.

State Department spokesman Ned Price said the House Republican turmoil should not throw into question the model of democracy, which Biden has promoted on the world stage since defeating Donald Trump.

"Our message has never been that democracy is neat or that democracy is seamless in terms of its operations," Price told reporters.

"But when processes are followed, institutions are respected, ultimately the outcome is one that everyone can get behind," he said.

"That in itself is a testament to the functioning of democracy, even if that functioning may be taking just a little bit longer than it has in the past 100 years or so."

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