GOP Rep Explains Floor Rant: ‘This Is Why the People Have Thrown You Out’

Here‘s the medium length version that ’s getting most of the viral play right now:

Maybe Rep. Steve Buyer (R-IN) feels even freer to speak his mind since he decided not to seek a tenth term in the House of Representatives. Here’s the LA Times:

Monday, the presiding speaker was California’s Democratic Rep. Laura Richardson.

When Indiana Republican Rep. Steve Buyer sought recognition to speak for….
…five minutes about some pending veterans legislation, she said no. He revised his request to one minute.

Looking confused and taking verbal directions from someone off-camera, Richardson again denied the request.

Buyer persisted, growing outraged that one sitting representative was highhandedly refusing to recognize another, even for one minute. “This is why,” Buyer declared, “the American people have thrown you out of power.”



Finally we have the “official” 4:30 version on the C-SPAN YouTube channel. Here’s why you should watch:

After Buyer is finally permitted to speak on this video, there is a short gap before Richardson is told to call a recess. Keep watching the bottom of the screen then for an entertaining gesture of exasperation by Buyer, who leaves his seat to walk by where he knows the main House camera is pointing.

So pay attention to the quiet mini-demonstration that begins around 3:23. And then don’t miss the last few seconds!



Rep. Buyer is now doing some post-rant analysis:

The GOP lawmaker who loudly voiced his displeasure over being denied an opportunity to speak said Tuesday the House has become “dark, mismanaged“ and ”undemocratic.”

Rep. Steve Buyer (R-Ind.), the outgoing GOP lawmaker and ranking member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, said he could have been more “civil” when he unleashed a tirade on the acting House Speaker after she denied him an opportunity to speak on the floor.

“Listening to myself — I was pretty upset yesterday,” he said on the conservative Sean Hannity radio show.

Hannity advised Buyer not to apologize. Here’s how Buyer is playing it:

“We all try to control ourselves. I am pugnacious,” he said. “But I also believe we have to be very civil. I was dumbfounded that I would not have been recognized to speak.”