House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) has been in Congress since 2014, when he took over Tea Party conservative firebrand Michele Bachman’s Minnesota seat. He’s been a politician since the 1990s, moving from the city council of Delano (on the outskirts of the Twin Cities) to the Minnesota State House, all the way to Congress, railing against taxes, abortion, and same sex marriage, as well as questioning evolution and trying to water down drunk driving penalties (Emmer had two DWI arrests himself in the 80s and the 90s).
Four hours ago, after years quietly climbing up the ranks of the party, Emmer won a vote from the Republican conference to be the party’s new nominee for Speaker of the House.
The Republican Party’s “Stealth bomber,” as the New Republic called him in a 2022 profile, was suddenly in the cockpit.
Then—a precision strike from former President Donald Trump, and it was all over.
“Voting for a Globalist RINO like Tom Emmer would be a tragic mistake!” Trump posted on Truth Social just after 1:00pm CT.
“I have many wonderful friends wanting to be Speaker of the House … RINO Tom Emmer, who I do not know well, is not one of them. He never respected the Power of a Trump endorsement, or the breadth and scope of MAGA … 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?” Trump said in the post.
Trump also claimed Emmer had “actually spent more time defending Ilhan Omar than he did me,” a kiss of death as both Republicans and Democrats are fleeing from anyone in Congress who is supporting Palestinian liberation in the wake of Hamas’ attack on Israel.
Just hours after winning the preliminary race, Emmer was out of it.
“Yes, the news just broke that [he’s] out of the race … and I think it’s good news,” said far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) on Fox News.
“I couldn’t support him because of his voting record,” Greene explained. “We need a Speaker of the House that reflects the values and the views of Republican voters across the country … [Emmer] voted against President Trump’s transgender ban in the military, he voted for the Democrats’ gay marriage bill that allows churches to be sued if they don’t support gay marriages, he also … supported the national voting [rights] movement that was completely against what we stand for.”
“The fact that Tom Emmer has an 82% score with conservative Heritage Action and the MAGA crowd is describing him as a George Soros acolyte tells you why Republicans can’t find a Speaker,” commented one user on X about the situation.
Since a movement of far-right House members pushed out previous House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Oct. 3, the Republican Party has put forward three candidates, including Emmer, for the top House position. None have come close to getting elected.
In September, before McCarthy was pushed out, Emmer told the local Minnesota CBS station WCCO that he had “no interest” in replacing McCarthy.
It looks like, thanks to Trump, he got his wish.