House Majority Whip and Minnesota Representative Tom Emmer (R) won the GOP’s House speaker nomination.
After five rounds of secret ballot voting, Emmer received 117 votes.
Other candidates included Republican Reps. Jack Bergman (MI), Byron Donalds (FL), Kevin Hern (OK), Gary Palmer (AL), Austin Scott (GA), and Pete Sessions (TX).
Emmer now needs 217 votes on the House floor.
Twenty-six Republicans did not cast their vote for Emmer.
Some representatives said Emmer did not share their conservative values.
According to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Emmer “voted for Democrat gay marriage bill, voted with Democrats to overturn President Trump’s transgender military ban, voted for every penny of Ukraine funding, at one time supported the Soros national popular vote scheme, and voted to certify Biden’s 2020 election.”
“We need a Republican Speaker that reflects the values of Republican voters that can lead our conference,” Greene said in a tweet.
Donald Trump called Emmer a RINO, a “Republican in Name Only,” and noted that voting the representative as Speaker of the House would be a “tragic mistake.”
“I have many wonderful friends wanting to be Speaker of the House, and some are truly great Warriors. RINO Tom Emmer, who I do not know well, is not one of them,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
“I believe he has now learned his lesson, because he is saying that he is Pro-Trump all the way, but who can ever be sure?” Trump added. “Has he only changed because that’s what it takes to win? The Republican Party cannot take that chance, because that’s not where the America First Voters are. Voting for a Globalist RINO like Tom Emmer would be a tragic mistake!”
