McCarthy Appears to Fail on SIXTH Ballot, Despite Trump’s Statement in Support

AP Photo/Alex Brandon

For the fourth, fifth and sixth consecutive votes, Kevin McCarthy appears to have failed to get elected House Speaker.

This failure on Wednesday follows the previous three that occurred on Tuesday, the beginning of the 118th Congress. McCarthy needs 218 votes to get the gavel, assuming all members vote for a candidate. A small contingent of Republicans, mostly from the hardline-conservative Freedom Caucus, have insisted they will not back McCarthy for Speaker. With 222 Republicans in the lower congressional chamber, McCarthy cannot afford to lose more than four Republicans.

On the fourth ballot, 20 Republicans voted against McCarthy as of this writing, and voted for Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL). There were 19 Republicans who voted against him in the first two rounds and 20 who voted against him on the third ballot. Victoria Spartz, a Republican from Indiana, voted “present.”

The fourth ballot failure occurred despite former President Donald Trump calling on Republicans to support McCarthy. The detractors, including Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), are usually loyal to Trump.

“Some really good conversations took place last night, and it’s now time for all of our GREAT Republican House Members to VOTE FOR KEVIN, CLOSE THE DEAL, TAKE THE VICTORY, & WATCH CRAZY NANCY PELOSI FLY BACK HOME TO A VERY BROKEN CALIFORNIA,THE ONLY SPEAKER IN U.S. HISTORY TO HAVE LOST THE “HOUSE” TWICE!” posted Trump on his social media site, Truth Social, on Wednesday.

This is breaking…