Update: GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy appears to have failed to lock down the votes needed for speaker again as the House continues voting for a fifth round. How about 6?
A humiliation for Kevin McCarthy who was unable to get the required majority to be elected speaker.
McCarthy is the first candidate to fall short in a first ballot for speaker in over a hundred years. The impasse means that Republicans cannot assume the control as a new House can’t yet be sworn in.
On TruthSocial, Trump told the holdouts to get in line,
Republicans, do not turn a great triumph into a giant & embarrassing defeat.”
Adding that McCarthy
would maybe even do a great job.”
Wow. What an endorsement.
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, earned more votes than McCarthy in the first three roll calls of the new House the GOP is supposed to control.
Rep. Jim Jordan stood to nominate McCarthy for speaker, only for 19 of the rejectionists to vote that he should have the job that he INSISTS he doesn’t want.
Reps. Matt Gaetz of Florida and Andy Biggs of Arizona and other members of the far-right House Freedom Caucus were offered multiple concessions but they refused.
Voters alienated by Trump’s election denialism leaving McCarthy with a much smaller and more unworkable House majority than he expected. Yay!
He either can’t count or he has zero control over his conference. Neither is good for the GOP. Yay!
The tiny Republican majority means McCarthy can only afford to lose 4 VOTES for speaker. This imbalance will likely dominate Congress for the next two years. Yay!
McCarthy will be a weak speaker (if he can swing the vote today) which means he’ll barely have any power. Yay!
No.
— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) January 4, 2023
We will never support Kevin McCarthy. https://t.co/nEDK4PtsEb
What Kevin McCarthy’s Mom just told him:
— Paul Rudnick (@PaulRudnickNY) January 3, 2023
“How did you get this number?”
“I guess your Dad was right”
“That’s why we call you L’il Trumpy”
“Look at it this way: everyone hates you”
“Sorry, we rented your room”
“Are you crying? Bob, he’s crying”
“No, we already finished dinner”
(Photo, YouTube/ chart, The Hill; via CNN)
