Hours before US House speaker election, Republicans tell reporter to 'shut up'

Some US lawmakers from the Republican Party came into focus just hours before the US House of Representatives elected Mike Johnson as its speaker. The lawmakers who are members of US Congress, told ABC News congressional reporter Rachel Scott to 'Shut up' and 'Go away' as she tried to ask questions to Johnson.

Scott was present at a news conference Johnson held after he was nominated by the party for the post of House speaker. During the press conference, Scott attempted to ask Johnson, a staunch ally of former US president Donald Trump, about his efforts to help the former president overturn the 2020 results.

Republican lawmakers around Johnson and other supporters present shouted at and booed Scott as she asked questions. Colorado Representative Lauren Boebert said. "Oh God" while North Carolina Representative Virginia Foxx asked Scott to "Shut up" and even "Go away".

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Mike Johnson appeared to maintain composure amid the chaos and said, "We're now doing policy tonight" and simply said "Next question".

The video of the incident is being widely shared on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) and users are questioning the way Republican lawmakers responded to a reporter who was just doing her job and asking questions.

“80-year old former “educator” from North Carolina, Virginia Foxx. Despicable behavior,” one user wrote

US Houe gets its speaker at last

The US House of Representatives was finally able to elect a speaker on Wednesday after weeks of deadlock and multiple rounds of voting which did not yield a clear winner. The infighting within the Republican Party delayed the election of the speaker and brought legislative work in the House to a standstill.

Also Read | Republican Mike Johnson becomes Speaker of the US House of Representatives

Johnson's election has come nearly three weeks after former speaker Kevin McCarthy was ousted from the post by his own party members.

On Wednesday, Johnson bagged 220 votes while 209 votes were cast in favour of the Democratic Party's Hakeem Jeffries.

Republican Party narrowly controls the House. Before Johnson was elected, the House rejected three possible replacements.

Johnson was first elected to the House in 2016. He would be the least experienced House speaker in decades. Before this, the 51-year-old was best known for being the author of the unsuccessful appeal from 126 House Republicans to get the result of the 2020 US presidential election overturned by the US Supreme Court.

In a letter to his colleagues, Johnson said that he would advance overdue spending legislation to ensure the US government doesn't shut down. The current funding expires on November 17.

(With inputs from agencies)