Republicans Matt Gaetz and Kevin McCarthy Exchange Words During House Speaker Vote

Republicans Matt Gaetz and Kevin McCarthy had a tense exchange of words during voting for Speaker of the US House of Representatives in Washington DC, late on January 6, video shows.

McCarthy, then a candidate for House Speaker, confronted Gaetz during the 14th round of voting, during which the GOP representative failed to vote in his favor, CSPAN reported.

Several people can be seen gathered around Gaetz and McCarthy, although it is not possible to hear what they are saying from the audio in C-SPAN’s footage.

McCarthy was eventually elected Speaker of the US House of Representatives in the early hours of January 7, after a 15th round of voting was required to break the deadlock.

According to news reports, McCarthy was elected after granting concessions to sceptics on the right of his party.

The House had been at a standstill for four days while the voting took place – the longest the chamber has gone leaderless in a century, according to CNBC. Credit: C-SPAN via Storyful

Video Transcript

[CHATTER]

- Hold on.

[LAUGHTER]

- We'll do it again. We'll do it again.