Louie Gohmert Reveals 'Real Intimidation' Happening in Speaker Battle

Texas Republican Louie Gohmert said there is "real intimidation" happening in the fight to determine who will be the next speaker of the House of Representatives.

Gohmert announced Sunday that he is running for speaker to unseat John Boehner (R-Ohio). Glenn Beck warned him Monday that if he doesn't win, his political future is over.

"If you don't win, you're toast," Beck said. "And that's exactly what they're going to be saying [to those who don't vote for Boehner]. That's what Boehner is saying to everybody right now. 'Listen, you don't vote for me, you don't play ball with me now, you're not getting on any committee. You're not going to be heard from again.'"

"Yes," Gohmert said. "I tell you what, Glenn, there is some real intimidation going on. Apparently this morning there was a statement released by Boehner's people saying David Brat was going to vote for him."

Gohmert said one tactic of Boehner's team may be something like: "We're going to get names out there of people that may not vote for us, but when they see in print that we're counting on them voting for us, they'll be afraid not to."

"Unfortunately for Boehner," Gohmert continued, Brat — who defeated former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (Va.) in a stunning Republican primary upset last year — has said he will not vote to re-elect him speaker.

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"Glenn, you and I ... have our accountability to the same place. And it's not to the speaker of the House," Gohmert said. "A few years ago one of our members, in a very contested situation, said to the speaker, 'Hey, you're our shepherd. We're your sheep. Tell us what we should do.' I said, 'Look, I've got two shepherds. One is my heavenly shepherd and the other is my 700,000 constituents in East Texas, and you're not in either one of those categories.'"

Gohmert also addressed a rumor that not voting for Boehner could potentially lead to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) being elected.

"That cannot happen unless 59 Republicans vote present," Gohmert said. "Only if 59 Republicans vote present can Nancy Pelosi have a chance at all. So anybody that votes present, they're helping Boehner and Pelosi by lowering the number that you have to get to get a majority."

If elected, Gohmert said, his top priorities will be to secure the border and "stop the illegal and unconstitutional amnesty," hold agencies and departments accountable for wrongdoing, throw out the current tax code and replace it with a flat tax, stop the automatic budget increases built into the government's budget every year, stop the NSA from spying on American citizens and reform the committee structure. When there are "87 agencies doing the same thing," Gohmert said, it is impossible to streamline the budget.

"We force the removal of at least two-thirds of the regulations," Gohmert continued. "Reagan forced Congress to do it, and he had a Democratic Congress. And this is a big one -- every two years, before we have a speaker's election, the party in power has a vote of 'confidence' or 'no confidence.' And if the speaker gets a 'no confidence' vote, he can't run and we get a new speaker. That's the way it ought to be, so that we don't have a dictatorship in Congress."

Beck highlighted all that Boehner has funded as speaker of the House, including Obamacare, which USA Today recently reported is "crippling the middle class." Beck said if you support Gohmert for speaker of the House, you must call the United States Capitol switchboard today, because the vote is tomorrow.

"We have another chance, America," Beck concluded. "Please, don't pass this sign post. Please. ... Tell the GOP you're done with them if they leave Boehner in. 202-224-3121. Do it now."

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