Do today’s Republicans even know how to do Congress stuff? It’s a fair question. After all, it appears they do not. On Tuesday, three weeks after an elite group of MAGA lawmakers ousted House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the chamber’s GOP made their third attempt at a replacement. Third time wasn’t the charm. Mere hours after they voted for Majority Whip Tom Emmer, the guy who really controls the Republican Party — prolifically criminally charged former president Donald Trump — shanked him good.
🚨 BREAKING: Donald Trump speaks out against the nomination of Tom Emmer for Speaker pic.twitter.com/r207sgN8Rd
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) October 24, 2023
All it took, of course, was a social media post. “I have many wonderful friends wanting to be Speaker of the House, and some are truly great Warriors,” Trump seethed on Truth Social. “RINO Tom Emmer, who I do not know well, is not one of them. He never respected the Power of a Trump Endorsement or the breadth and scope of MAGA—MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Coincidence or not, Trump’s disparaging post dropped not long before Emmer announced he, like Steve Scalise before him, was removing himself from the race. He thereby missed the chance to be repeatedly humiliated in one defeating vote after another, as Jim Jordan did last week.
Naturally, Trump gloated when he learned Emmer had been driven from the race.
Donald Trump: “Tom Emmer it looks like he's finished…He was not a supporter. He was a RINO.” pic.twitter.com/iQjeG76GI8
— Republican Voters Against Trump (@AccountableGOP) October 24, 2023
Trump also claimed to not know Emmer all that well. But of course there was a picture of the two, beaming like besties.
"RINO Tom Emmer, who I do not know well," https://t.co/wd8sKSyc5z pic.twitter.com/fDBCGMuuzQ
— Sam Brodey (@sambrodey) October 24, 2023
Emmer’s Speaker run lasted a mere few hours. It also meant some House GOP members flip-flopped from supporting him to denouncing him in record time.
Matt Gaetz literally JUST voted for Emmer and corralled votes for him, like, an hour ago, and now he's backing Trump's statement against Emmer. You really can't make this shit up. https://t.co/4XkyO2rmmx
— Charlotte Clymer 🇺🇦 (@cmclymer) October 24, 2023
Some on social media marveled at how short Emmer’s campaign lasted.
House Speaker race is like "Duck Soup" without the smarts or wit:
Emmer was @GOP "Speaker-Designate" for 3 hrs this afternoon & according to @AliVitali, heard Trump quickly posted that he didn't support him, realized this would doom his chances, and quit.
Freedumb Caucus rules. pic.twitter.com/V8fyftVNnE
— Harvey G. Cohen (@CultrHack) October 24, 2023
Others mused that the future of Congress being in the hands of a chaos agent with 91 criminal charges to his name is maybe a bad omen for the future of the Republican Party and, more importantly, of the nation.
Trump knifing Tom Emmer five minutes after he wins the Republican nomination for Speaker less than 24 hours after he pledged to stay out of it shows why the Republican Party will never be able to govern while Donald Trump is their leader.
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) October 24, 2023
Some of the reasons MAGA lawmakers detested Emmer sure were strange.
One of the many reasons the far-right is mad at new GOP House speaker-designate Tom Emmer is because he…
*checks notes*
…expressed basic empathy to the family of a Black man murdered while in police custody. pic.twitter.com/EfWFzdDGP8
— Charlotte Clymer 🇺🇦 (@cmclymer) October 24, 2023
Marjorie Taylor Greene explains on Fox Business that her problems with Emmer include that he's not sufficiently bigoted and too squishy on voter suppression pic.twitter.com/yWfnMyvzUv
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 24, 2023
There were lots of jokes.
Tom Emmer dropped out as soon as Trump shook his tiny fist at him. Inspiring character studies on display here.
— Michael McKean (@MJMcKean) October 24, 2023
https://twitter.com/Emme0703/status/1716920561241309192
Republicans entering and exiting the speaker race https://t.co/B4OhieZ4mE pic.twitter.com/ClYobbmJF2
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 24, 2023
BREAKING: There are now more former GOP Speaker of the House candidates than guys who've played Batman.
— Randi Mayem Singer (@rmayemsinger) October 24, 2023
And the lettuce 🥬 remains undefeated. https://t.co/L6hwqPMAZ5
— Katie Phang (@KatiePhang) October 24, 2023
One person who was happy about the news was Marjorie Taylor Greene, who thought Emmer exiting the race was now good news for…three-time loser Jim Jordan?
BREAKING 🚨🚨
Tom Emmer had DROPPED OUT. Thank you Donald Trump for getting this done
At this point I stand with Donald Trump or Jim Jordan ALL THE WAY
Thoughts ?
— Marjorie Taylor Greene Press Release (Parody) (@MTGrepp) October 24, 2023
(Via The New York Times)