This all may play into republican hands as now they have evidence of a far-right wing set of republicans who will ultimately be defeated by the centrists.
Was this a set-up?
BTW, I abhor the current L v. Right measurement system, as my books will attest.
“Was this a set-up?”
Setup by whom? It was just a vote for the Speakership - no one forced the Freedom Coalition to reject McCarthy. It appears they did it to get rules changes which they received.
This wasn’t a serious challenge or there would have been an alternative gaining more than a handful of votes.
If conservatives can’t get more than a handful of votes then they don’t deserve a different speaker. You got to have the votes.