Kevin McCarthy may no longer be speaker of the House, but that doesn’t seem to have affected his assessment of Donald Trump.
McCarthy (R-Calif.) argued Thursday that Trump is in a dominant position in both the 2024 Republican primary and general election 12 months before voters go to the polls.
“If you look at the numbers, President Trump is stronger today than he was in 2016. President Biden is weak,” McCarthy told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “If you look at the latest polls and you look at those swing states, President Trump is stronger than he has been in the past.”
The former speaker’s remarks came a little more than four months after McCarthy ranked Trump World by questioning on the same program whether the 77-year-old was positioned as “the strongest to win the election.”
McCarthy immediately backtracked and has since boosted Trump’s prospects in several subsequent interviews, even knocking the former president’s rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Kevin McCarthy assesses that Donald Trump has a strong position in the 2024 election. REUTERS
“I don’t think Ron DeSantis did a good job. You know, he starts off really strong — he’s going to go down,” McCarthy said. “Nikki Haley seems to be getting stronger. I think Tim Scott would be a very good VP as well.”
“But that was an option for President Trump who won the nomination.”
Trump has been a critical ally as McCarthy struggles to maintain her grip on the speakership, which she finally lost on Oct. 3.
The former speaker predicted the age factor would be difficult for President Biden to overcome. AP McCarthy says Trump is in a dominant position in both the 2024 Republican primary and general election 12 months before voters go to the polls.AP
McCarthy also weighed in on the fallout from this week’s election, where Republican and conservative candidates and causes suffered losses in Ohio, Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and elsewhere.
He noted the setback in Virginia to redistricting, and pointed out that the GOP has been on a slow upward trajectory in the House since the 2018 midterms.
“Republicans are stronger going into the next election, in a year, than we were in the last two election cycles,” McCarthy surmised. “President Biden can’t solve the problem. The problem is his age.”
Biden, already the oldest president in US history, is expected to turn 81 on November 20, three days after the deadline to avoid a partial government shutdown.
Mike Johnson made it to the speakership with a full block of GOP.AP support
The final fight over government funding paved the way for a rebellion against McCarthy led by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.). McCarthy drew Gaetz’s ire by proposing a vote on a continuing resolution to keep federal operations running.
“The last 45 days — when you get to next week — have been designed for us to go into conference and sort out the differences between the Senate and the House,” McCarthy lamented.
“Unfortunately, we are going through the speaker’s race and we don’t have time to do all this. So we’re kind of back to square one.”
New — Talk to Kevin McCarthy. Have some choice words for “crazy eight” Rs. Says GOP won’t “heal” unless there are “consequences”
Said the GOP would benefit “enormously” if Gaetz were not in the House.
And said Nancy Mace is not qualified to win re-election.
Full intvw: 11aET Sunday pic.twitter.com/7xCBKi5HjL
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) November 9, 2023
New Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has floated different plans to avoid a shutdown, including a staggered CR that features sunset provisions, pressuring Congress to pass each of the 12 traditional separate appropriations bills.
The concept appears to be a non-starter for Democrats, who have demanded a no-strings-attached spending cap.
“I don’t see them doing that to Speaker Johnson right now,” McCarthy said when asked about a rebellion if he brought up the CR.
Kevin McCarthy aired his grievances against the eight Republicans who blamed him. CNN
In a separate interview, which aired on CNN Sunday, McCarthy aired his grievances against the eight “crazy” Republicans who joined with 208 Democrats to bring him down.
“Wonderful,” McCarthy told CNN in a preview clip when asked how many House Republicans would benefit if Gaetz left.
“People have to earn the right to be here,” McCarthy continued. “He will admit to you personally he has no conservative leanings in his philosophy and only the nature of what he focuses on.”
Matt Gaetz is leading the charge to impeach the former speaker.AP
The Golden State congressman did not support Gaetz’s removal, but said, “I don’t believe the conference will heal if there aren’t consequences for those actions.”
Switch to Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), who joined the rebellion, McCarthy predicted she would struggle for re-election after she previously helped fundraise for him.
“Not because of this. I mean, if you’ve watched him — just his philosophy and flip-flopping, I don’t believe he won re-election,” the former speaker speculated.
Nancy Mace supports her decision to turn on Kevin McCarthy.Getty Images
Gaetz responded, saying “thoughts and prayers to the former speaker as he overcomes his grief.” Mace defended his vote against McCarthy and accused him of “lying all the time to him.”
McCarthy’s ouster marks the first time in US history that a sitting speaker has won a House vote.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
