Mike Rogers waves off House floor altercation with Matt Gaetz: ‘A big nothing burger’
Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Saks, was briefly held back by colleagues on the floor of the U.S. House Friday as colleagues again failed to make Rep. Kevin McCarthy the speaker.
In a short video, Rogers appeared to try to talk to Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Florida, who was among a faction of lawmakers that repeatedly blocked McCarthy’s nomination. Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., apparently forcefully restrained Rogers.
Rogers, though, waved off the event, saying the confrontation was blown out of proportion.
“I was just exasperated that Matt [Gaetz] was treating [Kevin] McCarthy so badly,” Rogers told The New York Post in an interview on Saturday.
Read more: Mike Rogers restrained in angry confrontation with Matt Gaetz on House floor.
“So, I just walked over to the end the aisle a few feet away from where he was seated and said, ‘Matt I am not going to forget this’,” Rogers told the Post. “I was about to walk away when [North Carolina Rep.] Richard Hudson grabbed me from behind and pulled me backward.”
Rogers then said the whole thing was “really a big nothing burger,” according to the Post.
His office has not responded to AL.com’s requests for comment.
The confrontation came toward the end of a contentious 14th vote for Speaker of the House. McCarthy won on the 15th vote.
As the votes dragged on earlier in the week, Rogers, a supporter of McCarthy, promised to block hardliners from committee assignments.