The almost ritualistic humiliation of Kevin McCarthy continued on Friday as he lost even more times in his bid to become Speaker of the House. But after Florida Republican Matt Gaetz torpedoed the 14th vote like this — in what appears to be a deliberately dramatic nature — so angry that one of his GOP colleagues had to be physically restrained,
You can watch the full clip above now.
The moment came late because of weeks of failures to confirm McCarthy as the new Speaker of the House of Representatives. He carries the support of a majority of his caucus, but unfortunately Republicans won one of the House’s slimmest majorities ever: 222 last November.
That means dissidents have wielded power to derail business, and so it is that McCarthy’s primary obstacle has been a group of hard-right delegates led by Gaetz and right-wing Colorado Representative Lauren Boebert. Most of this bloc – mainly supporters of the 6 January uprising and, like McCarthy himself, denying the election – strongly opposed McCarthy’s candidacy. For various, it is a bit difficult to explain the reasons,
His protest delayed the proceedings of the House for a whole week, and this situation continued on Friday, when the 12th and 13th attempts to elect the Speaker failed. However, McCarthy and other led Republicans have created a series hard concessions Hard liners that effectively render the speaker’s position a figurehead position. And between the 13th and 14th votes, he was apparently confident that he had won enough votes to reach the necessary 218 votes.
But during the next attempt, Gaetz chose to delay his vote when his name was called. This meant that he voted last, at which point it was clear that he would have the deciding vote. It certainly sounds like Republicans were confident they would win him over, as they were visibly surprised when he voted “present” instead of declaring for McCarthy.
McCarthy was filmed running over to Getz, where the two had a brief, apparently heated exchange. It is not clear what was said, but as McCarthy walked away, Alabama Republican Mike Rodgers, who was clearly irate, began speaking to Gaetz. Rodgers then bent over, at which point someone grabbed him from behind and pulled him away. the drama!
We have no idea what Rodgers said to Gaetz, or what it was about his actions in that moment that prompted someone to physically restrain him like they were once breaking up a fight. What we do know is that weeks of chaos, repeated insults to Kevin McCarthy, and clear evidence that whatever the newly minted Republican House majority will be, isn’t “the government,” it’s hilarious.