Florida Republican Representative Matt Gaetz used one of former Republican President Donald Trump's classic lines—"Sad!"—against him after Trump called on Republicans to support former House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy's bid for the House speakership.
The chamber was forced to adjourn Tuesday after McCarthy lost three separate rounds of voting for Speaker of the House due to what The New York Times referred to as a "right-wing rebellion" designed to block him from the speakership.
Trump has tried and failed to swing votes for McCarthy whether through private calls with lawmakers or his public calls via his social media platform Truth Social for Republicans to "CLOSE THE DEAL" or risk "embarrassing" themselves after securing control of the House of Representatives following November's midterm elections.
An unmoved Gaetz told Fox News in a statement that Trump's endorsement would not change his mind.
He even used one of Trump's classic lines against him when he said:
"Sad! This changes neither my view of McCarthy, nor Trump, nor my vote."
He also did the same on Twitter, saying supporting McCarthy's bid "is the worst Human Resources decision President Trump has ever made."
Gaetz has emerged as one of the ringleaders of the rebellion.
After McCarthy moved into the Speaker’s office, Gaetz called him a "squatter" in a letter to Brett Blanton, the Architect of the Capitol, who leads the federal agency responsible for the maintenance, operation, development and preservation of the United States Capitol Complex.
Indeed, McCarthy made a "transparent and predictably maladroit attempt to create a fait accompli via office furniture," according to Esquire's lead political blogger Charlie Pierce. McCarthy was subsequently mocked online as a result.
Gaetz's abject dismissal of both Trump and McCarthy indicates he has no intention of ending the stalemate in the House, widening the rift within the GOP between more establishment conservatives and far-right reactionaries.
And it was that dismissal that had Twitter users, well, atwitter.
As the House grapples with a Republican revolt that a defiant McCarthy has vowed will not compel him to drop his bid for the speakership, much of the country has borne witness to a deep dysfunction that has paralyzed the chamber's ability to govern.
McCarthy lost three separate rounds of voting on Tuesday and voiced his opposition to the nomination of Ohio Representative Jim Jordan, a founding member of the House Freedom Caucus behind whom far-right Republicans had coalesced.
The following day, he lost three more consecutive rounds of voting and told reporters he would prefer to adjourn, saying voting would not be "productive." The House ultimately voted to adjourn until noon today, January 5, over the objections of several Republican lawmakers who had to be pressed to vote until the last minute.
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