Patrick McHenry Angrily Slams Gavel After Kevin McCarthy Is Ousted as Speaker

Kevin McCarthy was removed as Speaker of the House on Tuesday after a rebellion from within his own party led by Matt Gaetz. Democrats voted with eight Republicans to remove McCarthy, setting off potential chaos in the lower chamber. After the Speaker was removed, Patrick McHenry replaced him as Speaker pro tempore until a new election for a replacement is held. McHenry is a close McCarthy ally and he was not happy with the result. And you could tell how angry he was based on how he treated the Speaker’s gavel.

Following the vote, Republicans adjourned the House to go into a conference meeting and decide the next step. As McHenry gaveled the session to recess, he absolutely hammered the thing down in anger. He swung the wooden hammer like he was trying to splinter it into a thousand pieces.

Check this out:

That’s some good, old-fashioned anger right there. The only thing that would have made it funnier is if the head of the gavel had broken off leaving him holding the handle.

He looked like he was trying to pull a Bo Jackson.

Or, as my colleague Kyle Koster put it:

McHenry is 47 and has represented North Carolina’s 10th district since 2005. He was previously the House Republican Chief Deputy Whip and is the chair of the Financial Services Committee. And now he’s temporarily Speaker of the House until someone else wins an election for the office.