Mike Lindell Reacts Strongly on Intra-GOP Rift over McCarthy Speakership

Long-time GOP donor and former President Donald Trump ally Mike Lindell, the CEO of My Pillow, publicly joined the intra-Republican fray over the House of Representatives ballots that eventually got Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California elected Speaker.

McCarthy’s Gut-Wrenching Election Has Left a Rift

McCarthy became the new Speaker of the Republican-majority House on Friday after 15 ballots; he kept failing to gather the necessary votes, due to intra-party opposition to his candidacy from the Freedom Caucus.

About 20 GOP House members were against McCarthy’s speakership, deeming him too soft and collaborative towards the Democrats, demanding concessions for themselves on committee appointments and other matters.

The Republican Party enjoys a majority of 222 members in the 435-seat US House of Representatives.

McCarthy was elected on the 15th ballot with 216 votes in favor, plus six Republican abstentions, which gave him 50.5% of the votes in the chamber.

His election seems to have been secured only thanks to Trump’s last-ditch effort to convince Republican dissenters to support him over the risk of seeing the speakership retained by the Democrats after four years of Nancy Pelosi.

Lindell, however, remained adamantly against Kevin McCarthy. He attacked a former ally of his, Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, for deciding to support the top House Republican’s bid, while praising Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz for remaining true to “principles” and standing against the candidacy.

MTG was an early McCarthy supporter, while Gaetz, together with Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona, had been the leader of the dissenters’ bloc.

MyPillow CEO Lindell’s comments appeared on a conservative podcast ahead of the 11th ballot on Kevin McCarthy’s speakership candidacy.

Lindell Was Wrong About Gaetz After All

Before McCarthy’s bid proved successful, Lindell went on the Badlands Media podcast published on Telegram with podcasters CannCon, Chris Paul, and Jon Herold.

Lindell was confident that Gaetz would never “break his promise” and would remain unconditionally opposed to McCarthy’s speakership.

In the 15th ballot, on Friday, January 6, Gaetz was one of the six Republican House members who consented to McCarthy’s election by voting “present,” i.e., abstaining.

The others were Andy Biggs, Lauren Boebert, Bob Good, Matt Rosendale, and Eli Crane.Ā After praising Gaetz at the time, however, Mike Lindell turn to major bashing of Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.

He at first said that he was “very surprised” a certain congresswoman had backed McCarthy and he wouldn’t say her name.

However, the MyPillow CEO immediately named Marjorie Taylor Greene, insisting she “broke her promise” and saying the media could start covering how he “bashed” her.

Lindell declared that MTG must have been “promised something” in exchange for her support for McCarthy’s speakership.

Greene herself, though, issued a statement later, declaring she had not been promised any committee appointments or other benefits ā€“ even though making such demands would have been a logical move for her, considering how Pelosi’s Democrats stripped her of any committee positions in the last Congress.

This article appeared in The State Today and has been published here with permission.

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