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Video showing the moment that newly elected Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy confronted Republican Representative Matt Gaetz on the House floor has been viewed more than 1.6 million times.
The two-minute video was shared to Twitter by CSPAN on Friday as members of the House attempted to choose a speaker for the 118th Congress on the fourth day of voting.
The exchange took place during voting for the 14th ballot as Gaetz voted "present" and not for McCarthy, who had won 216 votes and would have succeeded if he'd received one more vote.
In the footage, McCarthy can be seen walking up the aisle of the House toward where Gaetz is sitting and he speaks to his fellow Republican, though what they say is inaudible.
Nonetheless, the conversation appeared to be tense and at one point Gaetz, who was sitting next to Representative Lauren Boebert, seemed to point angrily at McCarthy and one his aides.
McCarthy walked away from Gaetz shortly afterward, though the two Republicans continued to exchange words. At one point, Republican Representative Mike Rogers attempted to approach Gaetz from the aisle and he was restrained from behind by Representative Richard Hudson.
Rogers is expected to be the next chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and Gaetz had reportedly sought a chairmanship on one of its subcommittees.
Fox News reported on Friday that Gaetz appeared to mouth the word "committee" during his exchange with McCarthy.
CSPAN's video had been viewed more than 1.6 million times as of Saturday morning.
McCarthy was successfully elected on the 15th ballot, when six Republican holdouts, including Gaetz and Boebert, voted "present." That lowered the threshold for a majority and McCarthy won with 216 votes to Democratic Representative Hakeem Jeffries' 212.
Gaetz previously said he would "never" vote for McCarthy and he backed other candidates, including former President Donald Trump.
No speaker has failed to win election on the first ballot since 1923 and this year's election has been the longest since 1859, when 44 ballots were needed before a speaker was chosen.
During a Fox News interview on Friday before the House reconvened at 10 p.m. ET, Gaetz hinted that McCarthy had made concessions in order to secure the speaker's gavel.
"I am excited and encouraged," Gaetz told Sean Hannity. "I am grateful that Speaker-designate McCarthy has been so receptive to each and every change that we have demanded. And Sean, we're at the stage right now where I'm running out of stuff to ask for."
Newsweek has reached out to the offices of Gaetz and McCarthy for comment.
About the writer
Darragh Roche is a U.S. News Reporter based in Limerick, Ireland. His focus is reporting on U.S. politics. He has ... Read more