Posted on 01/04/2023 6:31:31 PM PST by SeekAndFind
As the fight over who will be the Speaker of the House rages on, there are some interesting sub-battles going on within the Republican Party.
Perhaps the most surprising dynamic is Donald Trump reiterating his full-throated endorsement of Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday, while McCarthy’s detractors remain almost universally Trump-supporting Republicans. It’s hard to get more “MAGA” than Lauren Boebert and Matt Gaetz, with the latter actually doing an “America First” tour during the last election season.
Trump just endorsed McCarthy on Truth Social.
pic.twitter.com/9eiHpJRq0Q— Brandon Morse (@TheBrandonMorse) January 4, 2023
Yet, here we are, with previous alliances fraying, and several members of the anti-McCarthy group weren’t afraid to defy the former president. According to Lauren Boebert, Trump called them to tell them to “knock this off.” She took to the House floor and was having none of it.
Boebert says that Trump called them and told them to "knock this off" and vote for McCarthy.
She then says that Trump should tell McCarthy to withdraw. pic.twitter.com/s7wVyh3pTY
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) January 4, 2023
Good for her. It’s refreshing to see actual free-thinking taking place in Congress, a body that has long been plagued by groupthink and a domineering leadership that essentially tells its members how to vote. As I wrote in an earlier piece, I believe Republican voters are sick of having an elite cabal (which yes, includes Trump) making all the decisions.
And while I get that Trump wants to flex his influence, in doing so, he’s managed to endorse two-thirds of the party’s establishment (Kevin McCarthy and Ronna McDaniel), which makes him part of the establishment. That reality can’t be brushed aside, and I think Boebert has realized she can’t straddle the fence anymore. Trump is her opposition here, and she’s not afraid to deal with that head-on. Seeing that is far preferable to seeing Republicans fall in line because they are told to.
Matt Gaetz also shared criticism of the former president and derided the endorsement of McCarthy.
Supporting McCarthy is the worst Human Resources decision President Trump has ever made.
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) January 4, 2023
I’m not sure what Trump is thinking here. He could have been a hero on Wednesday morning by endorsing Byron Donalds and joining some of his biggest supporters in fighting the establishment. Instead, he doubled down on his support for McCarthy. That feels a lot like Trump just wanting to be seen as supporting the “winner,” given McCarthy is likely to prevail eventually once he makes enough concessions.
That’s not leadership, though. Rather, it’s the same kind of inside baseball that so many Republican voters have come to despise. Is Trump really so desperate to regain power that he’s willing to become part of the establishment to get there? It’s hard to come to a different conclusion at this point.
That aside, the now-21 holdouts (McCarthy lost a vote on the sixth ballot) are providing a bit of inspiration in being willing to defy the person who has previously defined their movement. Donalds stepping up as a viable candidate has changed the game.
Good for Boebert for not listening to a 3-time loser.
What’s your source for that? She claimed today in an interview he provided her nothing which is one of her reasons for opposing him, as he refused to support MAGA candidates with the Republican House fund. I find this as likely because there is talk tonight about new negotiations regarding how House funding can be used in the future.
This excerpt actually buttresses EEgator’s point about Donald’s.
Every single politician, doesn't matter which party, that took dirty FTX money and looked the other way should be run out of DC on a rail, charged for their crimes, put on trial, and upon conviction be taken out back, horsewhipped, tarred, feathered, hung by their necks and made an example out of. I dunno, maybe that's a little extreme ... Just me?
Dan Bongino's show.
I report, you decide!
Who is YOUR choice?
As I heard it, the negotiations are that house funding cannot be used in "safe" districts/safe races. Is that your understanding also?
If so, that change would still have zero impact on Boebert's race. No net gain for her at all given her thin margin of victory and how tight that race was all the way through.
You’ll need something better than that. I tried a quick search on the internet and nothing similar came up. I’ll trust Boebert’s direct retort in person today over your recollection of what a 3rd party Bongino may have said. Thanks.
...Of the 20 Republicans who voted for someone other than McCarthy — leaving the House in deadlock — 14 received a total of $120,000 in contributions from McCarthy's leadership PAC, the Majority Committee, the filings show. That includes Reps. Dan Bishop (N.C.), Michael Cloud (Texas), Andrew Clyde (Ga.), Byron Donalds (Fla.), Bob Good (Va.), Andy Harris (Md.), Ralph Norman (S.C.), Scott Perry (Pa.) and Matt Rosendale (Mont.), along with incoming freshmen Anna Paulina Luna (Fla.), Josh Brecheen (Okla.), Andy Ogles (Tenn.), Eli Crane (Ariz.) and Keith Self (Texas).
The donations were among hundreds McCarthy spread around to the Republican conference and GOP challengers as he sought to help Republicans win the House majority in 2021 and 2022. Most candidates received the maximum $10,000 — $5,000 each for the primary and the general election — although a few only got support for the general election.
Reps. Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Lauren Boebert (Colo.), Matt Gaetz (Fla.), Paul Gosar (Ariz.), Mary Miller (Ill.) and Chip Roy (Texas) did not receive any contributions from McCarthy's PAC in the last election cycle, although some have benefited from the political operation in the past. Most of the incumbents — with the exception of Boebert, whose contest went to an automatic recount due to its surprisingly close margin — faced easy paths to reelection in the midterms....
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/01/04/mccarthy-political-action-committee-opposition-00076377
You weren’t in those negotiations, neither was I. But assuming they at least have it right that election funding is being discussed, it means that many believe McCarthy was using it as a weapon against MAGA candidates, which supports Boebert’s claim.
“..This is the biggest joke in 100 years, and we are a laughing-stock. When you elect clowns, the castle becomes a circus....”
Well, the GOP is chock-full of RINOs and UniParty hacks sprinkled with a handful of patriots, this is the result. There’s no unity, no direction, no nothing....just RINOs and hacks fighting like hyenas over the carcass of a dead rabbit; which is why I registered as an Independent last week after those 18 UniParty hacks stabbed everyone in the back with that Omnibus BS. It’s truly sad, but also kinda comical in a sadistic way.
Time will tell and one of us is right.
Thank you Ms. Jane! You are a brilliant researcher so this is likely quite accurate.
So, a max of $10k, but maybe only $5K. That’s only $1,9 million off from $1.9 million, after rounding.
And, not from this last election. (Article doesn’t break down previous election cycles.)
Trump has been snookered too many times to be involved in this
Yes, and NONE from this last election. I don’t blame her at all for being upset with McCarthy. She was an incumbent, too. And as she said she is just one example of how he tried to block MAGA candidates, just like McConnell has. Their agenda seems to be to destroy America, McConnell with his Chinese shipping magnate wife, and McCarthy with his boyfriend Luntz.
Plus he’s really not interested in the job.
Those crimes have him bone fides. Had he been a dem, he’d be labeled ANTIFA.
Yep....CoCo Chow and CoCo Luntz counterparts....out to destroy this great nation....while they bilk millions.
I wouldn’t be too concerned. At this point, the nominee being offered up by the holdouts is really nothing more than a place holder, to deny McCarthy the win. If McCarthy decides to stand down, then negotiations between the two camps will likely commence in order to come up with a candidate that both sides can agree on. Equally likely, McCarthy will give in to the demands of the holdouts and will then get elected.
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