One of the leading challengers to Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel made a bold call Friday night that wound up proving prophetic for the late-night House chamber fireworks.
"If I were a holdout on the House speaker vote, I'd throw in allowing C-SPAN to go free range on the floor and show us what's really going on in the 118th Congress, not be boxed in like they will be once the speaker is elected and rules passed. #FreeC-SPAN," Harmeet Dhillon, the chair of the Republican National Lawyers Association, tweeted at 9:11 p.m. ET on Friday night.
That was less than two hours before Newsmax and C-SPAN cameras would catch Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., needing to be restrained by Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C. Rogers was shouting down Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., for being one of six holdouts against House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.
That came at 11:02 p.m. ET and Dhillon noted thereafter the American people got to see the tension of the House chamber in real time.
Notably, that exchange led to phone calls from former President Donald Trump to the six holdouts that ultimately motivated them to change their no votes on McCarthy to "present," allowing 216 votes instead of 218 to pass him as the next speaker.
"Re-upping this. Can we agree that having the ability to see the action up close, warts and all, is amazing?" Dhillon tweeted 50 minutes after the heated words. "Better than anything you can stream on demand!"
Dhillon is running against McDaniel to be the next RNC chair later this month. MyPillow founder Mike Lindell has also said he is running.
While Trump endorsed McCarthy as speaker, even making the decisive near-midnight calls to get him over the finish line, the former president has stayed out of the RNC chair race.
Trump said he is taking the cue from late Queen Elizabeth to not taking sides in that one, saying "I like them" and not specifying which one.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.