‘It Would Be A Whole Different Night’: Top GOP Rep Says Heated Moment On House Floor Could Have Sunk McCarthy’s Speakership

Patrick McHenry (Republican from NC) shared new insights into the tense moments during the election. House Floor for the Speaker of House Election.

Interview with Spectrum NewsMcHenry gave new details on the House floor fight between McCarthy’s allies and the 20 Republican standouts opposing his speakership bid. He also spoke about the fight which almost broke out between two members and that it was a pivotal point in the long conflict.

“Had [North Carolina Republican Rep.] Richard Hudson not been there it would be a whole different night. It would be a whole different week and Kevin McCarthy would not be Speaker of the House,” McHenry shared his thoughts with Spectrum reporter Reuben Jones. “Had Richard Hudson not walked over when he did, and instinctively do the right thing to remove somebody from a bad situation, that was on the cusp of getting much much worse.”

New:@PatrickMcHenry says if Richard Hudson didn’t restrain Mike Rogers from Matt Gaetz on the House floor during the Speaker vote Kevin McCarthy would not be Speaker today.

View the FULL story https://t.co/JdPnvV1OVq #ncpol @RepHudsonNC pic.twitter.com/xlb5MEpXTW

— Reuben Jones (@ReubenJones1) January 24, 2023

After the 14th ballot of speakership votes had ended and McCarthy had failed to win a majority of votes again, McCarthy approached Matt Gaetz (R.-FL) to start talking to them. McHenry tried to get to know Gaetz while McHenry was talking to McCarthy. McHenry was speaking to McCarthy when Rep. Mike Rogers (R–AL) came up behind him and began berating Gaetz. Hudson quickly stepped in and restrained Rogers. He grabbed him by his face and pulled him away, while McCarthy returned to his seat.

Kevin McCarthy confronts Matt Gaetz during 14th House Speaker vote. #118thCongress pic.twitter.com/nMa9bm0KSN

— CSPAN (@cspan) January 7, 2023

McHenry said that the C-SPAN video didn’t fully capture the atmosphere in the chamber. “It was much more tense on the [House] floor than what what the video gives credit to,” He stated.

McHenry had been working with Gaetz in negotiations to change his vote before the exchange between Rogers & Gaetz. “The goal was to get him to vote for Kevin and I quickly realized that I needed to move to a more modest goal which was for him to move to [vote] present as a sign of goodwill,” He stated. He told the outlet he had no idea that C-SPAN cameras were on him in the moment, but that wouldn’t have changed anything. “Had you told me at the moment, it wouldn’t have affected a single thing I did.”

McHenry, a conservative Republican Study Committee member, currently serves as the Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. From 2014 to 2019, he was Republican Chief Deputy Whip. He briefly held the position of House Majority Whip after Rep. Steve Scalise, a Republican from Louisiana, was shot at Congressional Baseball Game 2017. Spectrum News reported that McHenry was considered as a compromise speaker candidate if McCarthy couldn’t get the votes. McHenry was still able to maintain good relationships with his fellow members of the caucus. flatly said “no” When asked if it would be his dream to become a speaker, he said yes.

Rogers and Gaetz are both still in business. made up their quarrel. “@RepMikeRogersAL and I have a six-year productive, working relationship,” Gaetz tweeted January 8 “We’re going to work together wonderfully going forward. I don’t think there should be any punishment or reprisal just because he had an animated moment. He has my forgiveness.”

“@RepMattGaetz and I have a long and productive working relationship, that I am sure will continue,” Rogers’ quote-tweeted as a reply to Gaetz “I regret that I briefly lost my temper on the House Floor Friday evening and appreciate Matt’s kind understanding.”

Rogers resigned from his position as the chairman of the Republican Steering Committee After the exchange.