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A congresswoman from the Virgin Islands rose in the House during the speakership vote on Mike Johnson (R-LA) to protest the more than a century-long refusal of the House to give a vote on the floor to elected officials from U.S. territories.

"I note that the names of representatives from American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia were not called, representing, collectively, 4 million Americans," said Stacey Plaskett to broad applause from the Democratic side of the chamber. "Mr. Speaker, collectively, the largest per capita of veterans in this country."

Vice President Kamala Harris had the privilege of swearing in another new crop of U.S. Senators on Friday. But one person was having a rough day.

New Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) — who defeated far-right MAGA ally Kari Lake in November — brought his baby daughter and son Michael to the swearing-in ceremony. The boy told Harris, "I'm sorry you didn't win."

Fox News co-host Brian Kilmeade appeared dumbfounded after falling for a joke by now-former U.S. Rep. Bob Good (R-VA), the once-powerful chair of the far-right House Freedom Caucus who lost his seat in the GOP primary last year after Donald Trump supported his Republican opponent.

In the lead up to this afternoon's vote for Speaker of the House, where Mike Johnson has a razor-thin majority and his re-election is controversial among some in the GOP, Good posted a tweet jokingly declaring, "I will NOT be voting for Mike Johnson for Speaker todat [sic]."

Conservative Fox News personality Rachel Campos-Duffy on Friday referred to January 6 rioters as “political dissidents,” a term traditionally reserved for individuals persecuted for opposing authoritarian or oppressive governmental authority or policies. Renowned figures who have been described as political dissidents include Martin Luther King Jr., Alexei Navalny, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, and Nelson Mandela.

Campos-Duffy, a longtime Trump defender, is married to former U.S. Rep. Sean Duffy (R-WI), a former lobbyist and Fox Business co-host, who is now President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to head the U.S. Department of Transportation. The Duffys met when they were both contestants on a reality TV show.

Bryan Lanza, a senior adviser to President-elect Donald Trump's 2024 campaign, delivered some bad news for House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) during an appearance on CNN on Friday.

After being asked by CNN host John Berman to make a prediction about whether Johnson would be elected speaker, Lanza said that "I think that there's a strong probability that Mike Johnson doesn't survive the night."

According to noted historian Douglas Brinkley, billionaire Elon Musk learned a valuable lesson about how government works when he failed to derail a House budget deal.

Appearing on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," Brinkley was asked whether House Speaker Mike Johnson will be re-elected on Friday when the House convenes to vote, he used Musk's failed interference as an example of how Johnson outmaneuvered Donald Trump's latest close advisor.

"Donald Trump was content to let him [Johnson] twist in the wind for a couple of weeks, is now backing him," MSNBC host Jonathan Lemire prompted his guest. "What do you make of his time as speaker so far? Do you think it will continue?"

ALSO READ: America's dark past and the key to stopping Trump's authoritarian rule

"He has a calming demeanor as you just heard from a Democrat across the aisle that people like him well enough," Brinkley replied. "I thought that when Elon Musk kind of firebombed the potential government shutdown that you were going to get more of a war going on this time in early January, but seems like things are being quite cohesive."

"So I think he is the person," he added. "Trump likes him well enough. Musk is going to have to learn to respect that he has a skill of vote counting and doing what he does that's different than making millions of dollars like Musk does, and he will be a key person in Washington now."

Watch below or at the link right here.

MSNBC "Morning Joe" co-host Jonathan Lemire did not hold back on Friday morning calling out Donald Trump for failing to walk back his complaints about President Joe Biden's administration about national security by using the New Orleans attack and Las Vegas Tesla explosion on the country's border policies.

In a series of posts on Truth Social following the two incidents, the president-elect raged at Democrats, the FBI and the DOJ, and claimed the incidents had something to do with undocumented immigrants.

After reading Trump's posts, Lemire made it clear that both perpetrators were Americans who also both served in the U.S. Army.

ALSO READ: Merrick Garland's last task and the explosive evidence that could save America

Then he laid into Trump.

"Let's be clear yet again," Lemire explained. "This terrorist suspect was born in Texas, U.S. citizen, served in the Army, seems to have nothing to do with the border, but yet the fear-mongering here from Trump and his fellow Republicans, including the man who in a few hours wants to retain his post as House Speaker, goes on unabated and, frankly, strikes me as dangerous."

After pointing out that president-elect has made no effort to correct the record, he added, "I mean, it is a lie, and it's also the latest in a pattern of Donald Trump being unable to make a mistake. You know, in the hours after the attack, there was erroneous reporting elsewhere that suggested that this attack may have had something to do with the border. He seized on that, made that the narrative."

"That reporting had to be retracted, officials have cleaned it up, we know it's nothing to do with it, but he can't let it go," he explained. "He is trying to use it for his political purposes, no matter –– even though it could hinder the investigation and certainly could leave other people vulnerable because of his dangerous rhetoric."

"This man is about to be president again, dealing with outright lies on national security issues. It is deeply, deeply dangerous," he added.

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Appearing on MSNBC's "Way Too Early" with host Ali Vitali on Friday Morning, conservative columnist Matt Lewis suggested it would be "game over" for Donald Trump if he can't convince recalcitrant GOP House members to re-elect House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA).

Speaking with the host, Lewis –– now a contributing columnist for "The Hill" –– was asked about Johnson's chances in the crucial vote to be held later Friday.

"I think it is going to happen because Donald Trump needs this to happen, ultimately he needs to be certified, as you were noting earlier," Lewis told Vitali. "I'm not sure we can certify the president without this election, without Mike Johnson or somebody becoming the speaker."

ALSO READ: Poor Trump supporters are about to get a rude awakening — but we shouldn't be celebrating

"That doesn't mean that Johnson survives 2025," he cautioned. "I think that he's going to have an interesting year. It's almost like, you know, putting together a Rubik's cube –– some people can do it, I could never do it."

Asked about reports that the president-elect would be making calls in support of the current House speaker, Lewis replied, "Well, look, on one hand, I think it is very clear that Donald Trump is incredibly powerful within the Republican caucus. I have never seen such slavish devotion to anybody."

"On the other hand, you've got a couple of factors," he continued. "Number one, Trump's power and influence has never really been that transferable. Look at when he endorses candidates for Senate, they don't always win! Quite often, they lose."

"His track record for a while there wasn't that good, I think he got better later in the game," he added. "The other problem, too, is that you need unanimous -- like, it's such a narrow margin in the House, that Trump could win over 99 percent of House members, he could intimidate them, cajole them. But if you have one or two people, one or two [Rep.] Tom Massies (R-KY) who are stubborn, who are not intimidated, it's game over."

Watch below or at the link.

A Kentucky Republican made an extreme vow Thursday night during an appearance with disgraced former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) on Gaetz's debut show on a far-right news network.

Gaetz interviewed outspoken Rep. Thomas Massie, who has clashed with his MAGA colleagues in the past.