CNN Reporter: Trump, Allies Dangling Speakership Threat Over Kevin McCarthy’s Head ‘To Keep Him in Line’
New reporting from CNN says former President Donald Trump and his allies are holding the threat of losing House speakership over Kevin McCarthy’s head if he doesn’t toe the line.
If the Republicans retake the House in the 2022 midterms, McCarthy is expected to become the Speaker of the House. But there could conceivably be enough Republican dissatisfaction with him at that point, and the party could look to other candidates. Mark Meadows recently suggested it could be Trump himself.
CNN Capitol Hill reporter Melanie Zanona wrote Wednesday that right now, there’s a decent chance Trump still backs McCarthy in the end, but “if Trump were to publicly or even privately come out against McCarthy — or encourage someone else to challenge him — it would almost certainly create a math problem for McCarthy.”
One Republican congressman told CNN directly, “Kevin has his full support. But if he came out against him, it would be ugly.”
Donald Trump and his allies are starting to dangle the threat of the speakership over House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s head, teeing up a yearlong dynamic that is already emboldening the MAGA wing of the GOP conference and influencing the California Republican’s decision-making as he crafts a strategy to win back the House next year.
Some in Trump’s orbit have even floated the wild — but technically possible — idea that the former President should make a play for the gavel. While it’s a highly unlikely scenario, the fact it’s even being teased in some conservative circles is putting McCarthy on notice and reminding Republicans of the leverage Trump still has over the party.
On CNN’s Inside Politics Wednesday, Zanona told John King, “This is going to be the dance over the next year in the Republican party.”
Most Republicans still expect Trump to support McCarthy, but, she added, “they are going to dangle this threat over McCarthy’s head to try to keep him in line and to try to get them to do what they want.”
“They want to be able to prod him to behave how they want.”
You can watch above, via CNN.
