After previously appearing to withdraw from the offer of Rep. Kevin McCarthy became the speaker of the House, Donald Trump took credit for the hard-fought victory of the California Republican.
Trump, who recently said, “let’s see what happens” because McCarthy lost votes after voting for contempt, took credit for “a lot of help.[ing] McCarthy won the position of Speaker of the House. Trump preened on Social Truth: “Thank you, I’m doing a great country!”
He even claimed the “fake news” was “very friendly” when reporting the urgent help. He posted stories from Fox News, Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post and right-wing media that claimed McCarthy thanked Trump for his support after finally winning late Friday after a record 15 votes.
After a statement from McCarthy to “especially thank President Trump,” he posted the video and replied: “Thank you Kevin. It’s a great honor!”
On Tuesday, Trump appeared to let McCarthy play in the wind after the lawmaker had lost three votes in the House to become speaker. Asked on NBC News if he would continue to support Republican lawmakers, Trump vaguely replied: “Let’s see what happens.”
Trump added: “I’m asking everyone to call for support. But let’s see what happens, and we’re going to – I’m asking everyone to call, for support. That’s all I can say. But we’ll see what happens. We’ll see how it all works out.
McCarthy later that day claimed Trump had “expressed” his support.
“Trump has expressed his support again; I spoke to him tonight,” McCarthy told reporters at the Capitol.
Trump previously called on House Republicans to stand behind McCarthy or risk having a worse speaker.
He apparently made calls to House members on Friday, urging them to support McCarthy in what could be a critical push.
After McCarthy’s 14th failed vote on Friday, his allies moved on Monday. But while the vote to postpone was underway, McCarthy holdout Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) reportedly took a call from Trump encouraging to clear the way for McCarthy. Trump also reportedly called Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), urging him to do the same.
That could be a breakthrough. McCarthy’s allies learned that their opponents were then prepared to vote “now” instead of “no,” and quickly began switching votes to keep the Council in session.
McCarthy went on to win the 15th vote to become speaker of the House.