UPDATE [4:48 p.m. ET]: Reports indicate that Rep. Tom Emmer has dropped out of the House speaker race mere hours after Republicans nominated him for the position. CNN is reporting that team members of former President Donald Trump had been calling House Republicans and urging them to oppose Emmer in the wake of his nomination.
“It looks like he is finished,” Trump told the media Tuesday. “He was a RINO. And it looks like he’s finished but we’ll see. You never know.”
This story is developing. Below is the original article.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) — Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota has become the latest Republican nominee for speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Emmer emerged as the GOP’s “speaker designate” after besting six other Republicans during five rounds of secret balloting Tuesday.
Many conservatives had hoped pro-life Florida Congressman Byron Daniels, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, would be the party’s nominee, but he dropped out after the fourth ballot.
Emmer consistently received around 100 votes during each round of voting. Neither Daniels nor the other candidates, none of whom have a national profile, mounted a serious challenge. All reportedly vowed to release all January 6 tapes to the public. Currently, there are 221 Republicans in the House GOP caucus.
Emmer, who serves as Majority Whip, chaired the National Republican Congressional Committee from 2019 until January 2023, a post that Trump supporters say he used to undermine America First candidates.
Widely seen as a Republican in name only (RINO), Emmer is a lobbyist-friendly moderate who is backed by Big Tech and is very favorable to the cryptocurrency industry, having previously sought to block the Securities and Exchange Commission’s investigation into Democrat mega-donor Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX firm.
Emmer is also perceived as more socially liberal than many of his GOP colleagues. He was one of 47 House Republicans to vote in favor of a bill codifying same-sex “marriage” into federal law last July. In 2019, he joined eight other Republicans to block the Pentagon from funding then President Donald Trump’s ban on “transgender” military recruits.
A video of Emmer from around 2011 is making the rounds on social media. At the time, he was a paid spokesperson for National Popular Vote, a nonprofit that called on states to vote for the president based on which candidate the majority of the country supports. Financial disclosures reveal the group has ties to left-wing globalist George Soros.
Although Emmer has since reiterated his support for the how the Electoral College works currently, former President Donald Trump shared the video on his Truth Social platform.
Laura Loomer@LauraLoomer
MUST WATCH:
In this video, the Uniparty’s pick for Speaker of the House Tom Emmer admits he wants to get rid of the Electoral College.
Emmer previously served as the paid spokesperson for The National Popular Vote initiative, an organization funded… pic.twitter.com/84H8OmZevZ
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) October 24, 2023
Politico previously reported that Trump privately told close allies that he would not support Emmer’s bid for speaker.
That report appears to be confirmed after Trump shared the following message on Truth Social Tuesday.
President Trump sounds the horn!
EMMER IS A RINO who cannot become speaker. pic.twitter.com/lwvAZtbaMI
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) October 24, 2023
“RINO Tom Emmer, who I do not know well… never respected the Power of a Trump Endorsement of the breadth and scope of MAGA. He fought me all the way,” Trump said.
“He is totally out-of-touch with Republican voters. 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? 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.”
Trump supporter Raheem Kassam has likewise said that if Emmer is victorious, “the GOP is finished and everyone who votes for Emmer is dead to me.”
Multiple outlets are reporting that Emmer asked for a closed-door roll call vote after winning the nomination Tuesday. The move requires all members to state whether they would support him on a floor vote. There are reportedly 26 members who are a firm “no.” Among those include Marjorie Taylor Greene, Paul Gosar, and Jim Banks. Florida GOP lawmaker Matt Gaetz reportedly voted to support him. Emmer voted for Jim Jordan as speaker on all three of his floor votes.
It is not readily known when a floor vote would be held on Emmer’s candidacy. Some reports suggest a certain number of House Democrats may either abstain from the next speaker vote to allow Emmer to obtain the position with far fewer votes needed than the normally required amount of 217. Some may vote for him outright.
Emmer lost a close race for the governorship of Minnesota in 2010. He had previously served in the Minnesota House for six years. He won former congresswoman Michelle Bachman’s seat in 2014.
To respectfully share your thoughts on Emmer’s nomination, call your representative directly, or the U.S. Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121.