Republican Montana Rep. Matt Rosendale told the Daily Caller’s editorial director and WMAL host Vince Coglianese that he decided to change his vote in favor of Speaker Kevin McCarthy because the “institution” was at a breaking point.
McCarthy became the 55th Speaker of the House on the 15th ballot in an early Saturday morning vote after a handful of Republicans spent several days blocking him.
Rosendale said he and six others “held together right until the bitter end” but knew McCarthy was going to end up getting the votes from them. Rosendale did note that while McCarthy may have won their votes, they were not “affirmative.”
“I will not be saddled with any type of bad decisions that he makes,” Rosendale said.
When asked what the “breaking point” was for Rosendale and others, Rosendale said he made his decision to flip for McCarthy when he noticed the “institution” breaking and that the “hour” in which Alabama Rep. Mike Rogers threatened Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz was a pivotal moment. (RELATED: Dem Rep. Adam Smith Says Gaetz Took McCarthy ‘Hostage’ But Works Well With Others)
“Basically when I saw that the institution was pressured to the point that we were starting to see some fractures in the institution, that people’s tempers were starting to flare a little bit too high, that it was not functioning the way that it was supposed to, and we knew that by Monday, the votes were going to be there anyway.”
Rogers confronted Gaetz on the floor when it became clear that McCarthy would not secure the necessary number of votes in the 14th round of voting. Rodgers appeared to lunge at Gaetz before being restrained by North Carolina Rep. Richard Hudson.
Gaetz voted “present” on the final ballot that handed McCarthy the gavel.
Rosendale trolled McCarthy during the 12th vote for Speaker, walking down the aisle and saying “Kevin” before taking a dramatically long pause before saying “Hern” and proudly walking off.