In his eight years as president, Donald Trump has helped launch the careers of dozens of Republicans. Kevin McCarthy has reaped the greatest rewards.
The gavel in the House of Representatives is completely Trump’s doing.
After dodging the matter for months, McCarthy finally spoke out against Trump in a CNBC interview on Tuesday, openly challenging if Trump would be the greatest Republican presidential nominee in 2024.
Can he really get elected? If the election were between Biden and Trump, “he can win that election,” McCarthy added. What we want to know is, ‘Is he the strongest to win the election?'” That’s a question I can’t answer.
With Trump in office, the entire world went crazy. The former president’s closest advisors and allies who are familiar with both men immediately began texting each other, “What the fuck?”
Others referred to McCarthy as a “moron.” While on the campaign trail in New Hampshire, many people expected Trump aide and speaker adviser Brian Jack to mediate tensions between the two men.
McCarthy quickly switched to damage control. The New York Times reports that he apologised to Trump via phone call. In an exclusive interview with Breitbart’s Matt Boyle, he backtracked and said the media was misconstruing his words.
“Trump is stronger today than he was in 2016,” McCarthy assured Boyle.
According to AWN’s sources, none of these actions calmed Trump’s inner circle’s anger. They believe McCarthy has used the former president for his own gain and has not been completely loyal to him in return. How he could “misspeak” (as McCarthy reportedly put it to Trump) on such an important matter is beyond their comprehension.
McCarthy’s attempt to mitigate the situation only served to exacerbate it. Allies of the speaker’s campaign circulated fundraising emails and messages with the subject line “Trump is the STRONGEST opponent to Biden!” and a request for contributions.
Using Trump’s name to raise money without his approval is a major violation of his terms as president. For any campaign to use his likeness or name, his team needs express permission. Last night, Trump’s staff requested that McCarthy’s remove the fundraising offer.
McCarthy has previously butted heads with Trump. McCarthy suggested censing Trump for his behaviour on January 6 and was later recorded discussing the possibility of asking Trump to resign. Despite this, the two remained inseparable: McCarthy played a critical role in reviving Trump’s standing within the Republican Party, and Trump supported McCarthy in his bid for speaker.
But the drama on Tuesday came at a delicate time, when the topic of why McCarthy hasn’t endorsed Trump was already being asked in the Trump world.
It is unknown whether Trump has directly requested McCarthy’s backing, but the former president and his associates have been perplexed by his reticence on the topic.
One GOP campaign adviser who requested anonymity said that McCarthy has told some Trump supporters that he is waiting to endorse since doing so “might hurt” Trump by linking him to the party establishment. As the highest-ranking Republican in office and the man who stands only two heartbeats away from the presidency, he has also intimated that he might want to remain politically apolitical.
Trump’s supporters, though, don’t believe that. The conventional wisdom holds that Bush Sr. will never let McCarthy sit on the sidelines during a contentious Republican primary, and that he will eventually receive McCarthy’s complete support.
When questioned by a consultant, “At what point is it okay for Kevin McCarthy not to endorse Trump?” McCarthy has yet to publicly back Trump. It’s true that “Donald Trump has been very good to Kevin McCarthy.”
The controversy also made others wonder how long Trump or will continue to back McCarthy.
Many of the former president’s staunchest congressional supporters have been stockpiling complaints against McCarthy, waiting for the appropriate opportunity to act. Trump is well aware that he can count on a number of deputies to vote with him to remove the speaker of the house.
The advisor predicted that Trump “could have him out as speaker by the end of the week” if he so desired.