The House speaker circus remained intense on day three, with Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) remaining incapable of cobbling together the votes needed to win. He’s still short of 218, with some 20 Republican House members firmly entrenched in opposition to his speakership bid.
The motion to adjourn barely limped passed the finish line, subjecting us to another media day where they claim a deal is close between McCarthy and this bloc of Republicans who are not budging. These 20 rebels have forced the lower chamber to have debates in the last 36 hours than in the past 18 months. The failure of McCarthy to secure the votes is his fault.
The anti-McCarthy wing has put forward a string of candidates, from Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) to Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL). There is no incentive for them back down because their main opposition—McCarthy— doesn’t have the votes for speaker. It was inevitable that someone from this group would nominate former President Donald Trump, and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) did yesterday.
Watch:
BREAKING: @RepMattGaetz just nominated Donald Trump for Speaker of the House. pic.twitter.com/reBYDFzUvf
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) January 5, 2023
It wasn’t lost on the former president, who posted a meme that reportedly had one former GOP congressman declare Trump the winner of the “meme wars” (via Mediaite):
Former Republican congressman Denver Riggleman (R-VA) said Donald Trump “wins the meme wars” after CNN’s Dana Bash called the former president a “loser” on Thursday.
As the network covered the ongoing effort by Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy to convince holdout members of his own party to support his bid for speaker, Trump posted an image of himself as House speaker. On Truth Social, Trump shared an image of him in the speaker’s chair appearing to mock President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
CNN’s Jake Tapper reacted, “An image of him as speaker of the House rubbing his belly and sticking out his tongue is not helpful.”
Yes Trump really posted this… pic.twitter.com/tvLa0FW3aX
— Yanky (@Yanky_Pollak) January 5, 2023
Just absolute perfection, despite Trump only getting one vote. Yet, his picture was on the candidate slate, which alone is enough to trigger the Left.
That’s great. They try to stick it to Gaetz with criminal charges, He sticks it to them with Trump ! Love it love it. With criminal charges pending, I dont think he would be elected to this spot.
Trump as speaker would be the ultimate choice and one of the greatest opportunities to take our country back and restore power back into the people’s hands as the constitution was written for our country! It would make the swamp heads explode and expose their crimes. Then they would start being investigated and held accountable? Election integrity restored and selection goes running for cover,! Do it. Elect Trump as speaker and the people can feel a sense of relief about our country’s future!
Although the best candidate for the job it is unlikely that he will get the job. Too bad to as it would be a good move but not for the swamp. Hense the issue. Should he get the job, I would love to see him rip up the SOU address!
Personally, I would rather he be President elect but if Republicans are divided to cause the Republicans to lose again, He would be an excellent Speaker of the House for getting things done. It would be the beginning to the end of the demos of false strengths and illegal current actions which has caused our American families to suffer in many ways. Trump can do that NOW.
Piglosi leVing as speaker…great!
Trump putting this meme… PRICELESS!
Leaving as speaker…