Matt Gaetz
Matt Gaetz.Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
  • Gaetz is certain that House Democrats will not vote for a moderate Republican as speaker.

  • Gaetz said he would resign if that happened.

  • I am sure of that. Gaetz assured viewers that wouldn't happen.

If House Democrats choose a moderate Republican for speaker, Gaetz will resign, he said Thursday.

Gaetz was talking to Laura Ingraham about the possibility of Democrats breaking ranks. On her show Thursday night, she said that there could be a scenario in which the Democratic Party helped McCarthy get elected so that both parties share power on the committees.

Gaetz didn't agree.

I am on the floor. The Florida Republican said that the Democrats were going to vote for Hakeem Jeffries. He is a historic person for them. They aren't going to split off under any circumstances. I assure you that's true.

I will step down from the House of Representatives if Democrats choose toelect a moderate Republican. I'm pretty sure that's how it is. Gaetz assured viewers that that wouldn't happen.

—JM Rieger (@RiegerReport) January 6, 2023

Hakeem Jeffries will be the first Black congressional party leader when he takes over. Jeffries received all the votes from his party for the speakerships.

McCarthy has failed to get the 218 votes needed to become the speaker. He needs to convince the 20 hardliners that he is the right person for the job.

Gaetz may have some reason to be confident. On Tuesday, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez spoke with Gaetz on the floor. Gaetz was assured by the Democratic congresswoman that her party wouldn't help McCarthy get the votes he needed.

"McCarthy said he could get the Democrats to walk away and lower their threshold," she said. I fact checked and said no.

The other Democrats made it clear that they would not give McCarthy a chance.

Ro Khanna told CNN earlier in the week that this is a Republican mess. They failed to govern. The problem is theirs to fix.

The "Never Kevin" movement is led by Gaetz. He rebuked the California congressman before the vote.

Gaetz said that if you wanted to drain the swamp, you couldn't put the biggest alligator in charge of the exercise. I am a Florida man and I know what I say.

The Florida congressman has been making fun of McCarthy. Gaetz asked why McCarthy was allowed to work from the speaker's suite despite not landing the job.

What is the basis in law, House rule, or precedent to allow someone who has placed second in three successive speaker elections to become the Speaker of the House Office? The letter was written by Gaetz. How long will he stay there before he's evicted?

Gaetz has consistently voted to block McCarthy from getting the speakership. Gaetz voted for Trump to be speaker even after McCarthy made concessions to the "never Kevin" camp.

McCarthy was confident in his bid for speaker after winning the GOP nomination in November.

The House Freedom Caucus said they wouldn't support McCarthy unless he agreed to give the party more power to remove the speaker.

Representatives for Gaetz and McCarthy did not reply to questions.

Business Insider has an article on it.