After fifteen ballot rounds, the Californian elected official accesses the speaker function against the backdrop of unpublished tensions and divisions within the Republican Party.
class = “Caption”> by Piotr Smolar (Washington , correspondent)
Two years ago to the day, a coup very little failed at the heart of the greatest power in the world. Thousands of supporters of Donald Trump (2017-2021) gave the Capitole against a campaign of lies and pressures initiated by the president of the time. Friday, January 6, in this same building, elected officials from this Maga movement (Make America Great Again), however a minority within the Republican Party, imposed their law and especially their methods on the new majority, in the House of Representatives. They humiliated Kevin McCarthy in historical proportions, despite his designation as speaker in the fifteenth ballot, at midnight, after four days of debate and three nights of negotiations. This personal and collective test has drawn a crumbled, weakened party, but above all captive of the populist ultra -right.
A scene summarized the torture to which the winner was submitted. It is 11 p.m. Friday evening. Matt Gaetz is sitting, impassive, at the bottom of the House of Representatives. Around him smoke the ruins of his party. The cameras are fixed on this elected representative of Florida. Republican colleagues surround him, press him, challenge him. By not offering him his decisive voice, Matt Gaetz, 40, has just failed Kevin McCarthy as speaker for the fourteenth time. An ultimate unforeseen drama, while the candidate finally thought of satisfying his obsession, after an ardent embers path.
The following minutes are already part of the parliamentary history of the United States. Livide, Kevin McCarthy approaches Gaetz to try to reason. Earlier in the day, the elected insolent of Florida called him as “LeBron James [star basketball player] of fundraising for particular interests”, believing that “altruism does not consist in selling part by piece to The corporation of lobbies “. McCarthy moves away, resigned. An elected Republican is physically retained by one of his colleagues, so as not to attack Matt Gaetz. In the absence of an alternative, a session suspension is decided by vote until Monday, promising a weekend of heartbreak. It is then that a new confusion occurs near the speaker platform.
relief applause
The Republicans, by the dozen, decide to reverse their vote, preferring to decide again on the candidacy of Kevin McCarthy. “Again!” Shouts the candidate. Final negotiations – a telephone intervention by Donald Trump with several of his relatives in the hemicycle, according to the CNN channel – have just restored the hope of an immediate outcome. Indeed, during this fifteenth round, five of the last recalcitrants are content to declare themselves present, without voting for another candidate.
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