Posted on 12/17/2022 1:53:33 PM PST by Zhang Fei
Former President Donald Trump has backed House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in his bid for speaker while saying that McCarthy’s opponents should fall in line.
“I support McCarthy,” Trump told Breitbart News on Dec. 15.
“Look, I think this: Kevin has worked very hard,” Trump added. “He is just—it’s been exhausting. If you think, he’s been all over. I think he deserves the shot. Hopefully, he’s going to be very strong and going to be very good and he’s going to do what everybody wants.”
McCarthy, 57, has been in the House GOP leadership since 2009, during his second term in office. But he has never been speaker.
McCarthy was in the running to succeed then-House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) in 2015 but abruptly dropped out before the conference vote. Then-Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) ended up succeeding Boehner.
Both Boehner and Ryan have since left Congress and McCarthy won the House Republican nomination in November. The speaker, though, must also receive the most votes in a session with members of both parties, and Republicans will only hold a slim majority when the new Congress is sworn in shortly after the New Year.
Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), 64, whom McCarthy defeated in the conference vote, has said he would be challenging McCarthy again in the upcoming session. At least four other members, including Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), have publicly opposed McCarthy and said they will not or likely will not vote for him.
“Rep. Norman sincerely likes Rep. McCarthy on a personal level,” a spokesman for Norman told The Epoch Times. “However, Rep. Norman is extremely concerned with the direction of this country, particularly with respect to the federal government’s out-of-control spending and outrageous national debt.”
(Excerpt) Read more at ntd.com ...
No.
Uh Don, quit digging please.
Very few want the job, and that includes the best in the party. This could end up a d disaster with the stupid party shooting itself in the foot, as usual.
We don’t need this kind of division right now but you know what? McCarthy’s brought this on himself with his spotty track record.
….continuing his awesome string of endorsements…
Sorry, but this is political reality. McCarthy was already challenged and lost. There is no one else. MTG explained it and supports McCarthy, too.
God, I hope not. McCarthy sucks, but I’d rather have the suck I know than the suck I’m not too sure about.
Trump has endorsed some good people, but he also endorsed Romney, McCain, Tillis, McConnell.....
I actually agree with Trump on this, not that I’m a huge fan of Kevin McCarthy, but there are certain political realities to consider.
Trump should be supporting someone else, but since he’s not, McCarthy will be Speaker, eventually.
But before Biggs and Gaetz will agree to vote for McCarthy, he’s going to have to give the conservatives in the party some actual power in committees. If he refuses, and decides to partner with the Democrats, and give them some more power instead, then he’s even more of a snake than we already know.
The pressure for him to decide won’t reach a peak until it’s actually time to vote.
Unfortunately, Trump has a bad record of choosing characters who always seem to backstab him .
God, I hope not. McCarthy sucks, but I’d rather have the suck I know than the suck I’m not too sure about.
/\
The suck includes knives in our back from that guy.
Just sayin.
Makes sense for Trump to do this.
The challenger lost, not McCarthy. There is no significant support for anyone else. The party needs to present a unified front.
“he’s going to do what everybody wants”
Trump channeling his inner Yogi Berra. A politician simply can’t do what “everybody wants”. :-)
I’ve thought all along the GOP and Democraps were outsourcing the job of stopping Trump in the House to McCarthy.
5-time loser Trump endorses another RINO.
I don’t like either McCarthy or Biggs. Any other choices?
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