WASHINGTON — Out of the nine Republicans running for House speaker, seven voted to overturn the 2020 presidential election results that installed as president.
Following Rep. Jim Jordan’s withdrawal from the race last week, as it became evident that he wouldn’t garner enough votes for the top position, nine men now compete to prove their worthiness.
The fact that many of them supported ‘s claim of a flawed 2020 election, even after a violent mob of his followers stormed the Capitol, isn’t entirely surprising given that it was a common stance among GOP leadership.
The ousted speaker, of California, voted against certifying Biden’s victory, as did his deputy, Steve Scalise of Louisiana, who also recently failed in his bid for speaker. Jordan, one of the former president’s most loyal allies in Congress, also voted to overturn the election.
Among the speaker candidates, such as Jack Bergman of Michigan, Byron Donalds of Florida, Kevin Hern of Oklahoma, Mike Johnson of Louisiana, Gary Palmer of Alabama, and Pete Sessions of Texas, all objected to certifying the election results in Arizona and Pennsylvania. Rep. Dan Meuser of Pennsylvania, on the other hand, only objected to his home state’s results.
Reps. Tom Emmer of Minnesota and Austin Scott of Georgia were the two who did not raise objections.
However, even those two men supported a brief backing a Texas lawsuit seeking to invalidate the election results in four crucial states.
Emmer, the GOP majority whip and a two-time chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, enjoys McCarthy’s support and likely has an advantage. However, it remains uncertain if he can secure the 217 votes required for victory, as many of Trump’s allies oppose him, partly because he was one of the few senior House leaders who validated Biden’s election.
Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado, one of the far-right members who voted against McCarthy, recently emphasized that it’s crucial for him that the next speaker unequivocally and publicly declare that the 2020 presidential election was not stolen.
A candidate forum for House Republicans to hear from all the speaker hopefuls will take place at 6:30 p.m. ET. On Tuesday morning, the caucus will convene behind closed doors to vote on their preferred candidate.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
