(breitbart) – Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) on Thursday voted for former President Donald Trump as Speaker of the House.
The vote came during the seventh round of voting in the contentious speakership battle, which is currently in its third day:
Gaetz stands as one of the several Republican holdouts refusing to unite behind Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) as Speaker of the House, initially forcing a second vote earlier this week — an occurrence the country has not seen in 100 years. In a Tuesday letter to the Architect of the Capitol, Gaetz inquired as to why McCarthy occupied the Speaker’s office, despite not having that position:
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) is among those criticizing her colleagues who are refusing to unite behind McCarthy, even throwing her “friend” Gaetz under the bus.
“Let me remind every everyone this Matt Gaetz who has compared Kevin McCarthy to Paul Ryan — my friend Matt Gaetz — he supported Paul Ryan almost more than anyone,” she said. “It’s still on his social media.”
“As a matter of fact, his first vote in Congress was for Paul Ryan as Speaker and then he cheered him on for nearly a year and a half or more, when people like me were at home furious at Paul Ryan’s speakership because it wasn’t passing the MAGA agenda that we all supported,” she added.
According to POLITICO Playbook, McCarthy may be making progress behind closed doors with his GOP critics, discussing certain concessions which include Rules Committee seats for Freedom Caucus members, a lower threshold for the “motion to vacate,” changes to the appropriations process, and a vote on term limits.
“I felt as though we had a very good discussion,” McCarthy said. “I think what you should gauge is, being able to do that [adjournment] vote, is that the discussions are going well and they’re continuing.
“That doesn’t mean they’re done or anything like that,” he added.
Gaetz’s vote follows Trump formally backing McCarthy after initially refusing to take a side.
“Some really good conversations took place last night,” Trump said in a statement, urging Republicans to “VOTE FOR KEVIN, CLOSE THE DEAL, TAKE THE VICTORY, & WATCH CRAZY NANCY PELOSI FLY BACK HOME TO A VERY BROKEN CALIFORNIA,THE ONLY SPEAKER IN U.S. HISTORY TO HAVE LOST THE ‘HOUSE’ TWICE!”
“REPUBLICANS, DO NOT TURN A GREAT TRIUMPH INTO A GIANT & EMBARRASSING DEFEAT. IT’S TIME TO CELEBRATE, YOU DESERVE IT,” he added. “Kevin McCarthy will do a good job, and maybe even a GREAT JOB – JUST WATCH!”
Gaetz described Trump’s support for McCarthy as “sad” and is reportedly raising money off his opposition of McCarthy:
Meanwhile, Trump offered a stroke of optimism on Wednesday, asserting that the Republican Party will be “STRONGER and more UNITED than ever before” after the negotiations are complete.
breitbart.com/politics/2023/01/05/matt-gaetz-votes-donald-trump-speaker-house/
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