Donald Trump is warning some of his fiercest supporters in the House of Representatives that they are playing a ‘dangerous game’ by opposing GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy‘s bid for the speaker’s gavel.
The former president is testing his influence in the GOP’s inter-party squabbles once again after being criticized for picking weak Republican primary candidates in the midterm elections.
He was less forthcoming about his choice to lead the Republican National Committee, amid a fierce battle to unseat its current chair Ronna McDaniel in favor of someone more aligned with the MAGA faction.
Speaking to Breitbart on Friday, the former president said California Republican McCarthy ‘deserves a shot’ at being House Speaker after his party narrowly won back the chamber’s majority in the recent midterm elections.
But with just a slim advantage, McCarthy cannot afford to lose the votes of five conservative members of his caucus who have signaled they will likely oppose him.
Those are: Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona, Rep. Matt Rosendale of Montana, Rep. Bob Good of Virginia and Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina.
‘Now, I’m friendly with a lot of those people who are against Kevin. I think almost every one of them are very much inclined toward Trump, and me toward them,’ Trump said.
‘But I have to tell them, and I have told them, you’re playing a very dangerous game.’
Donald Trump threw his support behind House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy’s bid for the speakership
McCarthy’s campaign for the speaker’s gavel is threatened by five Republican lawmakers
He claimed to have warned those five Republicans that they’d be in ‘a worse situation’ without McCarthy as Speaker.
Among the most controversial demands McCarthy’s detractors have is the reinstatement of a ‘motion to vacate the chair,’ which would allow Republicans to get rid of their current Speaker at any given time via vote. Moderates in the party have raised concerns about its destabilizing effect on the House GOP.
Biggs has announced he is challenging McCarthy for the role after widely losing a similar fight within the Republican caucus in November.
McCarthy said as recently as Friday that the five Republicans ‘have not moved’ in their position.
He’s won Trump’s favor despite being openly panned by some of the ex-president’s other supporters in Congress. McCarthy was the first high profile Republican politician to meet with Trump after the January 6 Capitol riot, widely seen as helping resuscitate Trump’s political career.
‘Look, I think this: Kevin has worked very hard,’ Trump told Brietbart.
‘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.’
He was less forthcoming about his choice to lead the national party, according to a follow-up excerpt of his interview published on Saturday.
Meanwhile Trump was less forthcoming about if he’d support RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel or one of her challengers
McDaniel is being held responsible for the GOP’s lackluster showing in the midterms by some top members of her party, along with criticism over how she spent party money in the races.
Among her most viable challengers for the chair is conservative lawyer Harmeet Dhillon.
Dhillon, an RNC member herself, is head of the firm representing Trump against the House January 6 committee.
‘I think they’re both good,’ Trump said. ‘I like them both.’
He compared his neutrality to the United Kingdom’s late Queen Elizabeth II.
Trump recalled, ‘It’s like when I asked Queen Elizabeth when we were together: “Which president did you like the best?” She said: “I liked them all.” “Which one did you like the best?” “I liked them all. They’re all great.” I said, “But didn’t you like Ronald Reagan the best?” She said: “No I liked them all. I liked Ronald Reagan very much, but I liked them all.”‘
‘Then I realized how smart she was,’ he said. ‘I said, you know that’s why she stayed there for 75 years.’
