Violence Breaks Out On The House Floor

Photo by Darren Halstead on Unsplash

(TheRedWire.com) – The growing tension over who would become the next House Speaker quickly escalated on Friday Night as Alabama Representative Mike Rogers lunged toward Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida.

The exchange between the two Republicans was caught on video and was posted online. It has so far received more than 2.1 million views. The encounter was truly encompassing of the chaos that has ensued in the House as the Republican party which currently holds the majority, could not decide on who the next Speaker should be.

Representative Kevin McCarthy, a Californian Republican, managed to win the Speakership after the 15th voting round. In order to win the necessary votes in the end he had to make a number of concessions. These allowed him to gain the support of the ultraconservative faction of the party.

Gaetz was one of the key members opposing McCarthy’s nomination.

Alejandra Caraballo, a clinical instructor at the Harvard Law School Cyberlaw Clinic tweeted in response to the video, that the altercation which took place after a confrontation between Gaetz and McCarthy marks the first physical altercation on the House Floor since 1985.

Former congressional candidate Dr. Dena Grayson also tweeted about the incident pointing out that it took place “on January 6, no less,” drawing in this way a line connecting the event to the insurgence that took place two years before.

On January 6, 2021, supporters of then-President Donald Trump marched to the U.S. Capitol and entered the building. The riot is widely seen as proof of the dangers that U.S. democracy is facing.

 

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