Trump backs McCarthy for speaker: ‘Kevin has worked very hard … I think he deserves the shot’

Commencement of the 118th Congress is mere weeks away and, as debates have grown heated over who from the Republican caucus should get the nod for the speakership, former President Donald Trump decided where on the scale to place his thumb.

“I think he deserves the shot.”

As the first half of President Joe Biden’s term comes to a close leaving Americans devastated from crippling inflation, overwhelming illegal border crossings, an unresolved supply chain crisis and seemingly limitless spending on pet projects, the need for strong leadership from the incoming Republican majority in the House couldn’t be more apparent.

Speaking with Breitbart News Friday from his Doral golf resort in Miami, FL, Trump not only threw his support behind the current favorite, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), saying, “I like him,” but he cautioned conservative opposition against “playing a very dangerous game.”

“Look, I think this: Kevin has worked very hard. He is just–it’s been exhausting,” the president said. “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.”

Speaking on the opposition which includes Republican Reps. Matt Gaetz (FL), Ralph Norman (SC), Bob Good (VA) and Matt Rosendale (MT) who have placed their support behind Rep. Andy Biggs (AZ), he told the outlet, “Now, I’m friendly with a lot of these people who are against Kevin. 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.

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

Expanding on his point, the former president brought up the two previous Republicans elected Speaker of the House, former Reps. John Boehner (OH) and Paul Ryan (WI) and suggested it had been conservative upheaval over Boehner’s failings that led to the installment of RINO Ryan.

“I use the Boehner to Paul Ryan example. You understand what I’m saying? It could be a doomsday scenario. It could be. You could end up with somebody who would be a disaster like Paul Ryan was,” Trump said.

“I think it’s a very dangerous game that’s being played. It’s a very dangerous game. Some bad things could happen. 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,” he asserted. “I think he goes down as the worst speaker in history. We took [out] Boehner–and a group of people, some of whom are the same, and they’re very good friends of mine. All those people are very good friends of mine.”

To really cement his point, Trump add, “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. He’s destroying Fox and he’s destroying the New York Post. We got to live with this maniac.”

“This guy, Paul Ryan,” the president continued, “couldn’t have gotten elected in his own area of Wisconsin. I went with him after I won the election and we had a tremendous crowd of people and they booed him off the stage. You remember that? They booed him off the stage. This guy is now telling Fox what to do.”

Reactions to Trump’s endorsement, which he made clear by explicitly stating, “Yeah, I support McCarthy,” were mixed, with some readily going along, some assenting with voice apprehension and still others adamantly opposed, critiquing the former president for missing the mark at such a formative opportunity.

Kevin Haggerty

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