SHOW BLOATING: Check out the most ridiculous moments from Thursday’s House votes
If there was any doubt that handing the House of Representatives to the Republican Party would result in an absolute circus, they’ve been working hard the first three days of the new session to dispel it.
On day three, while carrying out five attempts to elect a Speaker, a handful of Representatives made a display of being on the House floor for the purposes of a show, not service to their constituents.
The result was a lot of wild antics, votes for individuals who had not been nominated, and general showboating for attention.
The most ridiculous moments at this pitiful House party center around just a few of the most extreme MAGAts, particularly Matt Gaetz and Lauren Boebert, although Matt Rosendale (R-MT) and Andy Biggs (R-AZ) also have their moments.
Donald Trump, while not in the House, also gets a special mention, as he reacted on his social media safe space, as Gaetz voted for him without bothering to first nominate him on two ballots, then nominated him in a short speech for the eleventh ballot.
Boebert pulls a similar stunt, trying to give a nomination speech with her vote for Kevin Hern (R-OK), then nominating him in a subsequent election.
It seems she didn’t humiliate herself badly enough with Wednesday night’s media appearances, and needed to pile it on further.
The most bizarre moment of the day goes to Rosendale.
The day’s proceedings opened with a warning to Members to maintain order, and address comments to the clerk, not to one another, so naturally, when he stood to nominate Byron Donalds, who failed to reach even two dozen votes over several ballots Tuesday and Wednesday, he first called out Democratic Representative Maxine Waters by name, then denied that he had done so.
Watch below.
Rosendale calls out Maxine Waters by name but then denies he did so just seconds later. Very weird. pic.twitter.com/5B9TNG5O6K
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 5, 2023
Gaetz had brief moments of ridiculousness when he stood, twice, to vote for Trump on ballots for which the former president had not been nominated, but he really takes the cake when he first nominates Trump, then calls McCarthy a ‘squatter’ for his occupancy of the Speaker’s office. (He’s not wrong on that part, but the sniping at his own party stands out.)
oh my goodness Gaetz just destroyed McCarthy, calling him a "squatter" and calling for him to be evicted from the Speaker's office pic.twitter.com/3arXKDsRls
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 5, 2023
Trump seemed to appreciate the mention, and posted an image on his Truth Social account, showing himself as Speaker making faces behind President Joe Biden at a State of the Union address. (He still hasn’t gotten over Nancy Pelosi ripping her copy of his speech in half, has he?)
First, she gets booed when she tries to give a speech with her vote for Kevin Hern.
.@RepBoebert votes for Kevin Hern (R-OK) for Speaker. #118thCongress pic.twitter.com/6p8c5BY6H3
— CSPAN (@cspan) January 5, 2023
Then, on a subsequent ballot, she produces her speech at the appropriate time, with the other nominations — and is rewarded with utter silence, after every other nomination has been met with at least a little applause and enthusiasm.
lmao Lauren Boebert got zero applause — like, not even a single clap — for her speech nominating that Hern guy pic.twitter.com/cILqCdQfgW
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 5, 2023
Biggs had a moment of apparent cognitive dissonance in his nomination of Byron Donalds, declaring his party to be united while he continued to join fewer than two dozen members in splitting the vote to prevent, again, a successful completion of the election.
He complained about Democrats — who were united behind the same candidate, Hakeem Jeffries, through every ballot — laughing at his party for being divided, even as he exacerbated that same divide.
Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) claims Republicans are “together” while nominating Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) to be House Speaker instead of Kevin McCarthy:
“[Democrats] have laughed, and they’ve chuckled, and they’ve pointed fingers at us.” pic.twitter.com/ImWC2tLCzl
— The Recount (@therecount) January 5, 2023
Last, and perhaps least, we have Bob Good, who was perhaps concerned about a lack of enthusiasm after Boebert’s no-reaction speech above, and therefore paused in his nomination of Kevin Hern to request applause. (Despite providing a cue, he still didn’t receive more than a few half-hearted claps.)
we just had a "please clap" moment from Bob Good pic.twitter.com/UlqmhnHaUe
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 5, 2023
Nothing, though, tops the ridiculousness of the party as a whole, and its concerted efforts to keep Congress from completing their first task so that they can get on with the business of governing and working for the American people.
