Social media users are trolling Matt Gaetz after he threatened to resign over the ongoing House speaker vote chaos, with some asking the MAGA Republican “Do you promise?”
On Thursday night, Mr Gaetz vowed to quit his role in Congress should a moderate Republican be elected as the new speaker of the House of Representatives.
The Florida congressman – who is one of the main figures derailing front-runner Kevin McCarthy’s speaker bid – was asked by Fox News’ Laura Ingraham about the possibility that Republicans could strike a deal with moderate Democrats to get the 218 votes needed to elect a Republican as House leader.
Mr Gaetz insisted that something like that “will not happen” as all 212 Democrats in the House will continue to vote for Hakeem Jeffries – who is making history as the first Black lawmaker to lead a party in Congress.
“These 212 Democrats are going to vote for Hakeem Jeffries every single time. He’s a historic candidate for them. They’re not going to cleave off under any circumstance, I assure you,” he said.
Mr Gaetz – who has been the focus of a DOJ investigation over allegations that he sex-trafficked a minor – continued that he was so confident with his belief that he will resign if he is proven wrong.
“If Democrats join up to elect a moderate Republican, I will resign from the House of Representatives. That is how certain I am. I can assure your viewers that won’t happen,” he said.
The threat to resign was welcomed by several social media users who urged Democrats to help him make good on his word.
“Now is our chance: matt gaetz says he will resign if democrats help kevin get elected. I’m all for it, kevin won’t be able to do anything anyway,” one person tweeted.
“YOU HEARD HIM GUYS,” chimed another person.
Another person simply asked Mr Gaetz: “Do you promise?”
“This would be a win-win!” added another person.
Mr Gaetz has emerged as one of the biggest headaches to Mr McCarthy in his bid to be elected as the next House speaker.
As of Friday morning, Mr McCarthy has now failed to get enough votes in a staggering 11 roll call votes across three consecutive days – marking the longest House speaker vote since 1855.
His bid has so far been derailed by a group of far-right Republicans – dubbed the “Never Kevins” and made up of the likes of Mr Gaetz and Lauren Boebert – who are staunchly refusing to back him.
This week, Mr McCarthy has made several concessions in closed-door meetings to try to get the vote over the line but the holdouts have remained steadfast.
On Thursday, Mr Gaetz made the chaos yet more farcical when he decided to cast his speaker vote for former president Donald Trump.
Voting is expected to resume for a fourth day on Friday though Mr Gaetz has insisted he cannot be swayed to vote for Mr McCarthy.
“I will not be voting for Kevin McCarthy,” he tweeted late on Thursday night.
“I resent the extent to which he utilizes the lobbyists and special interests to dictate how political decisions, policy decisions, and leadership decisions are made. We have zero trust in him.”
