Now there’s a gay scandal sending the GOP’s disastrous search for House Speaker further into chaos

In most circles, the debate over same-sex marriage was settled when the Supreme Court legalized the practice eight years ago.

But for some House Republicans, the issue is still a non-starter.

WHAT?!

On Tuesday, Minnesota Rep. Tom Emmer emerged to become the GOP’s latest nominee for Speaker. It’s been an embarrassing three weeks for Republicans, who ousted Kevin McCarthy and still haven’t replaced him.

For much of that time, the pugilistic Jim Jordan was viewed as the favorite, but his bid wound up failing miserably. Apparently, members of Congress don’t like being brow-beaten and threatened.

With the House still a standstill, Emmer seems to be the most conventional choice. As House Majority Whip, he’s the highest-ranking GOP official vying for the position, and enjoys support from a (slim) majority of rank-and-file Republicans.

But there’s a big problem with Emmer, according to the most far-right members of the Republican caucus.

Last year, he was one of 39 House Republicans who voted to codify same-sex marriage into law.

Apparently, siding with the vast majority of Americans (71%) is a step too far.

At least that’s the case with Rep. Rick Allen from Georgia, who said Tuesday Emmer’s support for gay marriage is disqualifying.

WTF?!?!

These people are so out of touch, it’s ridiculous— Kjell Desot (@desotkjelldesot) October 24, 2023

“He doesn’t hate the kind of people we told him to enough…”

-Republicans— Daniel Corso. #66. (@CorsoGoRound) October 24, 2023

Let’s take a moment and think about how insane this is. The world is in crisis, with Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine and a burgeoning war in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas. The House is paralyzed without a speaker, meaning it can’t pass any sort of legislation, including military aid to Israel and Ukraine.

And yet, Allen and other conservatives are content holding the government hostage, because Emmer thinks gay people should have the right to marry.

Bigotry knows no bounds, doesn’t it?

It’s worth mentioning, by the way, that Emmer is far from a rainbow flag waving LGBTQ+ activist. He was vehemently opposed to same-sex marriage before he was for it, once calling the practice “social engineering.”

In fact, Target’s former CEO was forced to apologize after the company donated to a political action committee supporting Emmer’s 2010 run for Minnesota governor, due to his anti-gay stances.

When Emmer first entered Congress in 2015, he also supported the First Amendment Defense Act, a failed “religious freedom bill” that would’ve barred the government from punishing anyone who discriminates against same-sex couples.

But like many Americans, Emmer’s stances on LGBTQ+ issues have softened over the years…though we’re leery of giving him too much credit. While he supports the military providing transition-related medical care to transgender service members, he also championed a federal ban on trans athletes from participating in school sports.

In other words, the problem isn’t that Emmer is too pro-LGBTQ+.

He’s just not anti-gay enough!

There are some other “strikes” against the Minnesota Republican. He voted to certify the 2020 presidential election, putting him in conflict with nearly half of his conference. In addition, Emmer supports providing military aid to Ukraine.

Unsurprisingly, Donald Trump isn’t a fan. On Tuesday, the disgraced ex-president called Emmer a “RINO,” and said he “never respected the Power of a Trump Endorsement.”

It seems like members of the far-right House Freedom Caucus are falling in line with their Dear Leader.

Since Emmer can only afford to lose four GOP votes, he seems to have an uphill battle, considering one Republican is already a hard “no.”

Well, a little over four hours after becoming the GOP nominee for Speaker of the House, Emmer dropped out after it became clear he could not secure the 217 votes from his party to win the gavel. The chaos resumes.

Yes, same-sex marriage may be the law of the land. But for some Republicans, fighting cultural battles from the ’90s still take precedent over things like keeping the government open.

Wonderful!

Holding the country hostage over their culture wars.— Jeff Holcomb (@atjeffholcomb) October 24, 2023

Related:

GOP Rep. throws epic shade at Matt Gaetz and others who ousted McCarthy

“We don’t deserve you.”