Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., reacts after losing the 14th vote in the House chamber as the House meets for the fourth day to elect a speaker and convene the 118th Congress in Washington, Friday, Jan. 6, 2023.AP Photo/Alex Brandon
- Democrats trolled Republicans in various ways as the chaos of electing a speaker stretched for days.
- This included pointed reading material, a popcorn prop, and several memes shared on social media.
Kevin McCarthy was elected speaker of the House on Saturday, ending days of turmoil and uncertainty.
The election was the first time in a century that the House needed even a second ballot to select its leader.
As the chaos unfolded, which included a brawl between Republican congressmen and 15 rounds of voting that stretched into the early hours of Saturday morning, some Democrats took the opportunity to mock or comment on the GOP torment.
Rep. Katie Porter made a very pointed choice of reading material
U.S. Rep.-elect Katie Porter (D-CA) reads a book in the House Chamber during the fourth day of elections for Speaker of the House at the U.S. Capitol Building on January 06, 2023 in Washington, DC. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Amid the chaotic scenes in the House Chamber on Friday, Democratic Rep. Katie Porter of California was pictured sitting calmly and reading "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck" by Mark Manson.
Rep. Ted Lieu posed with a bag of popcorn
Rep. Ted Lieu, a California Democrat, posted a photo of himself with a bag of popcorn on Twitter on Tuesday, captioned "about to go to the House Floor," likely referencing the theatrics inside the chamber.
Republican Rep. Kat Cammack had earlier in the week accused Democrats of bringing "popcorn and blankets and alcohol" to the vote.
'Speakergeddon', Home Alone, and other memes
Several Democratic lawmakers took to Twitter to share memes poking fun at the chaos of the speaker vote.
Rep. Cori Bush mocked the situation by referring to it as "speakergeddon."
Rep. Mary Peltola shared a meme of a cat crying with the caption "screams internally" in reference to another speaker vote.
Taking a dig at McCarthy, Rep. Chuy Garcia shared a photo of the character Kevin McCallister from the movie Home Alone, and said that he was "the only Kevin that can defend a house."
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When Democratic Rep. Jared Huffman from California was asked to cast his vote, he called out Hakeem Jeffries' name in a dramatic fashion.
His delivery style led people on social media to speculate that it was a reference to a meme of World of Warcraft character Leeroy Jenkins shouting his own name.
When HuffPost reporter Arthur Delaney questioned on Twitter whether Huffman had intended to make the reference, the congressman responded to confirm it.
Delaney later tweeted that Huffman told him he was trying to sound like an "old-timey boxing announcer" but preferred the Leroy Jenkins interpretation.
Some Democrats wore black on January 6
On the second anniversary of the Capitol riot, several Democrats chose to wear black in the chamber during the speaker's vote.
Rep. Veronica Escobar from Texas wore black as the nominated Jeffries as speaker and spoke about the events of January 6, 2021.
"On that day, when my colleagues and I were trapped in this gallery, the terrorists who assaulted our police officers could be heard banging on these doors, breaking these windows. And they were here to prevent the certification of a free and fair election."
Pete Aguilar from California said, "the same individuals who fanned the flames of January 6th … may well be in charge of the people's House," reported The Washington Post.
