WATCH: Scuffle breaks out as McCarthy appears to lose 14th speakership vote - Velshi - The Last Word

[Rhiannon12866]

Tensions were high and a scuffle broke out around Rep. Matt Gaetz after GOP leader Kevin McCarthy appears to lose the 14th round of voting. - Aired on 01/06/2023.

[jmbar2]

1. He's getting mugged for his excellent toupee!

I'd hold it hostage.

[LudwigPastorius]

2. Nice preview of the brand of "governing" we're liable to see for the next 2 years.

McCarthy's House is going to make the primate cage at the zoo look like the House of Lords.

[SergeStorms]

3. Wish we could see who the participants were.

"Scuffle breaks out", then the MSM fails to show the "scuffle".

Ahhhh....the next two years should be interesting, to say the least. 😉

[Rhiannon12866]

4. Here you go: McCarthy elected House speaker in rowdy post-midnight vote - AP

[snip]

He fell one vote short on the 14th ballot, and the chamber became raucous, unruly.

McCarthy strode to the back of the chamber to confront Republican Matt Gaetz, sitting with Lauren Boebert and other holdouts. Fingers were pointed, words exchanged and violence apparently just averted.

At one point, Republican Mike Rogers of Alabama, shouting, approached Gaetz before another Republican, Richard Hudson of North Carolina, physically pulled him back.

“Stay civil!” someone shouted.

Order restored, the Republicans fell in line to give McCarthy the post he had fought so hard to gain, House speaker, second in the line of succession to the presidency.

The few remaining Republican holdouts began voting present, dropping the tally he needed. It was the end of a bitter standoff that had shown the strengths and fragility of American democracy.

The tally was 216-212 with Democrats voting for leader Hakeem Jeffries, and six Republican holdouts to McCarthy simply voting present.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/politics-united-states-house-of-representatives-kevin-mccarthy-us-republican-party-0938c7358f41c83759246f8949ac7c15

[SergeStorms]

5. Thank you, Rhiannon!

You didn't have to do that. Republicans are interchangeable. It could have been any one of them.

"Stay civil". Republicans haven't been civil since Newt Gingrich unleashed his "contract on America" in the mid-90s. The tea baggers started the war on civility, and it's all gone downhill since then. Every time we think they've reached the bottom they surprise us, and dip down into uncharted lows once again.

Hope you had a great holiday season.

[Rhiannon12866]

6. Well, I figured I should know since I was up and watched the whole drama unfold

That was definitely the most compelling thing on TV that night. And you're right, these guys can't even remain civil with each other. Not to mention, they're still defending the violent behavior that the country witnessed on January 6th - only one Republican showed up for the memorial on Friday. It's going to be a long two years, if McCarthy can last that long...

And I hope that your holiday was better than mine, I was on Jello and yogurt since I had an infected wisdom tooth extracted. But my good friend invited me for dinner and offered me something soft to eat and I went home with a cat. I lost both my 16-year-old dog and my cat who I'd rescued as a kitten before the holidays so it's been really tough. My friend's daughter rescues cats and cat #3 intimidated the previous two so she persuaded her daughter that he'd get the attention he wanted with me. And I think I got the best one, he's the friendliest guy, just needed more attention. So I came home with a cat on Christmas!

[SergeStorms]

7. All's well that ends well.

Out of your misery, a new companion was acquired. Animals have a way of making our problems seem a little less significant.

I had all of my wisdom teeth extracted long ago. Two were impacted and the other two were going to create trouble sooner or later, so I had them all taken out at once. I wasn't a happy camper for a few days, but I always prefer to get my suffering over with ASAP.

Just the normal, uneventful holiday for me. At my age the grandchildren are the saving grace for successful holidays. Living vicariously through them is the greatest pleasure.

I'm looking forward to Spring. I know we've hardly scratched the surface of winter, but I have to have something to look forward to. It's been pretty much a snowless winter so far, with the exception of the pre-christmas blizzard. I know we're going to get whacked sooner or later, but I'm enjoying the snow-free time until then.

Hang in there, and don't let the bastards grind you down. 😉