Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) said Wednesday after the election of Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) as House Speaker that he did not cut any side deals like he did when Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) won the gavel. “No side deals. This speaker election means that the House Republican conference is united, really, for the first time,” Gaetz said on MSNBC’s The Beat. Johnson won the speakership after the first full House vote with him as the GOP’s nominee, with all Republicans in the chamber voting for him. By contrast, McCarthy’s victory came on the fifteenth ballot, during which six Republicans—including Gaetz—voted “present.” Gaetz praised Johnson as someone who “obeys almighty God and the Constitution before all else,” and that he is “not someone who comes from any particular faction” of the GOP. Melber, however, took issue with that. Johnson had a leading role in trying to overturn the 2020 election results, supports a national abortion ban, and opposes same-sex marriage.
