Tom Cotton Roasts ‘Humiliated’ House GOP Rebel Matt Rosendale: ‘Won’t Come Within a Country Mile of the Senate’

Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) tore into Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT) on Tuesday night, hours after Rosendale voted to strip former speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) of his gavel.

Earlier this week The Messenger reported that Rosendale, who lost to incumbent Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) when he ran for Senate in 2018, told donors that he had always hoped that the GOP would win only a narrow majority in the House during the 2022 midterms.

“Look, we have shown, OK, with a very small handful of people, six at times, five at times, that we can have tremendous impact in that body and when a lot of people, unfortunately, were voting to have a 270, 280 Republican House, I was praying each evening for a small majority,” said Rosendale, who argued that a “small majority was the only way that we were going to advance a conservative agenda, and that if it was the right majority, that if we had six or seven very strong individuals, we would drag the conference over to the right.”

Linking to the story about Rosendale’s comments, Cotton wondered why “Maryland Matt Rosendale prays for Democrats to win election?”

“Did God answer his prayers in 2018 when Jon Tester humiliated him?” continued Cotton. “This is just one of many, many reasons that Maryland Matt won’t come within a country mile of the Senate.”

Maryland Matt Rosendale prays for Democrats to win elections? Did God answer his prayers in 2018 when Jon Tester humiliated him?

This is just one of many, many reasons that Maryland Matt won’t come within a country mile of the Senate. https://t.co/3JNnSyD2Na

— Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) October 4, 2023

In 2020, Democrats dubbed Rosendale “Maryland Matt” during his campaign for Congress because he had “moved here [to Montana from Maryland] only because he purchased a vacation home and a luxurious multi-million-dollar ranch.”

Cotton kept up the heat on Rosendale Wednesday, captioning a photograph of Tester and Rosendale laughing together “Montanans United for Democratic Majorities.”

Montanans United for Democratic Majorities https://t.co/Jz63ilJtSU

— Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) October 4, 2023

McCarthy also referenced Rosendale’s comments at a press conference after his ejection from the speakership on Tuesday.

“Matt Rosendale, he goes to mass every day,” began the ex-speaker. “But you know what he said his prayer was all last year? That Republicans didn’t have a big victory, that they had a narrow victory. When you have members like that, that are part of your team — you’ve got a tough team.

Rosendale is reportedly weighing a second run against Tester in 2024. While former president and Republican nominee Donald Trump prevailed over Demo Joe Biden by close to 16.5% in Montana during the 2020 presidential election, Rosendale lost to Tester by 3.5% two years earlier.

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