Trump blasts Republicans opposing a McCarthy speakership

By 
 December 17, 2022

Former President Donald Trump just spoke out against those Republicans who are fighting against Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) becoming the next House speaker. 

Trump did so in a recent exclusive interview that he did with Breitbart News.

"A very dangerous game"

During the interview, Trump argued that those Republicans who are opposing a McCarthy speakership are playing "a very dangerous game."

The dangerous game, of course, is that, if House Republicans fail to unite behind McCarthy, then they could wind up with a House Speaker who is far worse than McCarthy.

Trump, as an example, referred to when Paul Ryan became Speaker instead of John Boehner.

Trump said:

Look, we had Boehner and he was a strange person but we ended up with Paul Ryan who was ten times worse. Paul Ryan was an incompetent speaker . . . Think of it—we ended up with Paul Ryan. Boehner was like Winston Churchill compared to Paul Ryan. Boehner wasn’t perfect—nobody’s perfect—but Paul Ryan was a disaster for the Republican Party. That’s what we got. Now we have to live with him.

Background

The good news is that Republicans will have a majority in the House comes January. The bad news is that, as suggested, there is some in-fighting about whom House Republicans ought to choose to be the next House Speaker.

Among the House Republicans who are opposing a McCarthy speakership are Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Andy Biggs (R-AZ). The concern that they have with McCarthy is that he will not be able to adequately stand up to the Democrats and the D.C. establishment.

McCarthy has already won the speakership nomination from House Republicans. But, 31 House Republicans voted against McCarthy. And, in order to be the Speaker of the House, a candidate needs at least 218 votes from the House as a whole.

Accordingly, the concern is that McCarthy might not have the votes and that the Democrats and the D.C. establishment may be able to use this fact to elect a speaker who is more to their liking.

Trump is with McCarthy

Trump is urging all House Republicans to unite behind McCarthy.

"Now, I’m friendly with a lot of those people who are against Kevin," Trump told Breitbart. "I think almost every one of them are very much inclined toward Trump, and me toward them. But I have to tell them, and I have told them, you’re playing a very dangerous game.”

Trump continued:

You could end up with the worse situation. I don’t even want to say what it is, but I could tell you it’s a worse situation. You could end up with some very bad situations.

Trump, elsewhere in the interview, said, "I support McCarthy."

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