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As U.S. House speaker fight drags on, Republican holdout votes for Trump

Published 01/05/2023, 01:47 PM
Updated 01/05/2023, 01:51 PM
© Reuters. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) casts his vote for Speaker of the House for former U.S. President Donald Trump as he stands next to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) during a 7th round of voting for Speaker of the House on the third day of the 118th Congress at t

By Moira Warburton

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A day after Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives rejected Donald Trump's plea to support Kevin McCarthy's campaign for speaker, one of McCarthy's hardline opponents cast his vote for the former president.

Representative Matt Gaetz, one of 20 House hardliners who have rejected McCarthy, cast his ballot for Trump in a seventh round of voting. He was the only member to do so, leaving Trump far short of the 218 votes needed.

Republicans won a narrower-than-expected 222-212 majority in November's midterm election, a result that some in the party blamed in part on Trump backing inexperienced or far-right candidates. That narrow majority has given the small hardline group outsized influence.

Gaetz in particular has been a thorn in McCarthy's side, insisting there was nothing the California lawmaker could do to win his support.

The U.S. Constitution does not state that the speaker of the House needs to be a member of the House, though no outsider has held the role.

Republican strategists said that the House hardliners' rejection of Trump's plea to vote for McCarthy illustrated the former president's weakening hold on the party he reshaped.

Asked about Gaetz's move, a Trump representative on Thursday referred back to Trump's Wednesday post urging "VOTE FOR KEVIN."

Gaetz did not comment on his nomination of Trump.

Latest comments

the Republicans are standing up to the crazies in their party? the losers didnt see this coming since 2008 when the loser VP to dick Cheney sarah palin, saw russia from Alaska! lulus!
11 defeats (and counting) for Kevin McCarthy, the circus/freak show that is the the House GOP majority continues......
Trump would make an excellent speaker. Could he do it while running for office? The USA needs to have some courage and admit they were very unfair to President Trump. Probably owe him reparations, truth be told.
Trump would make a horrible speaker. (He can hardly put together a single proper sentence). Besides, why would you want somebody who is busy campaigning for President to fill such an important seat as Speaker? You need somebody who can focus on the job and show up to work everyday. Nobody can do that while concurrently running for President.
Yes, put a man who called, literally, for the "termination" of the US Constitution in the Speakers position. Truly, these America haters are complete idtiots.
can he run for office from jail?
This is a problem due to him being from the most liberal state in the country.
no but how long has it been since something like this has happened?? And how many votes does it take.
 I knew that.  That's why I said Massachusetts, not Cali as Hank said, is the most liberal state.
  Since Trump, who's self-proclaimed to be anti-swamp, supports Kevin, it's more likely he made promises to Trump.
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