Trump leers at Biden as US House 'Speaker' in own meme. But how many votes did he get?

Former US President Donald Trump, on Friday, caused a furor in the so-called MAGA world after he shared a joke picture of himself as the US House of Representatives Speaker. Trump fired a meme after Republican Party leader Kevin McCarthy failed in the 12th round of voting, unable to secure 218 votes to win the position. Trump who was also nominated for the position got one vote from the leading Republican opposition of Mccarthy, Florida rep Matt Gaetz. After the House suffered a deadlock, Trump took to his Twitter-like social media platform Truth Social to share a meme mocking Gaetz. 

The picture depicted President Joe Biden speaking from the podium while vice president Kamala Harris and Trump were seated behind them. Trump is seen on the speaker’s chair with his tongue out, mocking Joe Biden. Gaetz had formally nominated Trump to be House speaker during the 11th round of voting. As House's Cheryl Johnson announced that Trump secured one vote, laughter engulfed Congress.

Trump calls deadlock 'big Republican victory'

The meme was later shared several times on social media, as users joked about Trump's vote tally for Speaker of the House. Trump’s spokesperson Liz Harrington also took to her official Twitter handle to share the video of Gaetz’s vote. trump meanwhile shared a post on Truth Social about the deadlock, saying: “A big Republican VICTORY today, after going through numerous Roll Calls that failed to produce a Speaker of the House, has made the position and process of getting to be Speaker BIGGER & MORE IMPORTANT than if it were done in the more traditional way.”

Gaetz has been increasingly vocal about his opposition to McCarthy’s nomination for the speaker’s post and had suggested Trump's name to thwart the vote. In a speech delivered earlier this week, he intended to nominate representative Jim Jordan right after Jordan, who is set to become the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. He was also seen having exchanges with several Democrats on the floor, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez [AOC]. Since the GOP won back the control of the House with majority votes in the November midterms, they have been in staunch opposition to McCarthy's nomination as the Speaker. Trump, on the other hand, had urged the Republicans to vote for McCarthy. He had insisted that GOP’s infighting over the House speaker only shows tha the role, formerly held by Democrat Nancy Pelosi, was indeed “bigger and more important”.