Down and Out in Mar-a-Lago: Pundits and Reporters of All Stripes Declare Trump’s Political Power Dead

As the GOP infighting over whether or not to elect Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) House speaker entered its second day and fifth and sixth rounds of voting, pundits and reporters weighed in on former President Donald Trump’s failed effort to whip votes for the embattled GOP House leader.

Trump publicly backed McCarthy early Wednesday morning ahead of voting, writing on his Truth Social, “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.”

“REPUBLICANS, DO NOT TURN A GREAT TRIUMPH INTO A GIANT & EMBARRASSING DEFEAT,. IT’S TIME TO CELEBRATE, YOU DESERVE IT. Kevin McCarthy will do a good job, and maybe even a GREAT JOB — JUST WATCH!” Trump concluded.

As voting began on Wednesday, congressional reporters noted Trump’s backing hadn’t moved the needle, despite the revolt against McCarthy largely coming from inside Trump’s MAGA base.

Fox News’s Chad Pergram

Pergram told America Reports ahead of the voting that Trump’s influence was clearly waning within his own base.

“And the statement this morning by former President Trump did not do anything in favor of Kevin McCarthy. As you know, former President Trump does not quite have the same political wattage that he had some time ago. You know, he does not carry as much weight in the Republican conference here on Capitol Hill as he used to,” Pergram reported.

“But we’ll see here in a few minutes if that number goes above 20 or below 20. The other thing that we need to watch here is how many total members are voting? 434. That was the magic number yesterday. There were 434 votes. You start to get attrition when you go into vote after vote after vote. If that number falls, it changes the math,” Pergram noted. McCarthy did indeed lose the vote and the number of GOP rebels remained mostly unchanged.

MSNBC’s Chuck Todd

Todd weighed in after the vote and noted that Trump’s efforts on the California Republican’s behalf were fruitless.

“By the way, very quickly, Donald Trump. Donald Trump once again, was very helpful to Kevin McCarthy to the point of it got him not a single new vote,” Todd noted.

“It’s kind of a reminder of, just we’ve been chronicling how much power he’s been losing inside the party. I think this is why Trump had been so quiet for a while for fear that his voice doesn’t matter. I think we just found out, at least when it comes to getting McCarthy over the finish line, he could maybe end McCarthy if he wanted to, but he can’t, couldn’t crown him,” he concluded.

CNN’s Kasie Hunt

Hunt offered a similar analysis on CNN after anchor Dana Bash reported that a Trump ally on Capitol Hill told her that the former president had lost his sway in Congress.

“But the calculation that Trump would always be incredibly popular with the base. And now what you’re seeing is I talked to an ally of Donald Trump on Capitol Hill who said that the former president is calling some of these 20 and he doesn’t have the juice anymore,” said Bash.

Jake Tapper then noted, “Well, you saw Matt Gaetz. Matt Gaetz, Congressman Matt Gaetz actually even made fun of Trump in a comment that he made to Fox. When Trump put out the statement backing McCarthy, Gates, one of the leaders of the rebellion, wrote, ‘Sad.’ Making fun of how Trump tweets.”

“Right. No. I mean, look, I think at this point, Trump would have more influence in the process if he were to suddenly say that they need to get rid of Kevin McCarthy or something along those lines, because it’s very clear that he doesn’t have the power anymore to actually give Kevin McCarthy the speakership,” concluded Hunt.

Pucks’ Tara Palmeri

Palmeri also wrote about how “Trump Has Truly Lost His Juice.”

“One of the cruel ironies of all this is that McCarthy, who went to extraordinary lengths to placate Trump, is being stymied by card-carrying members of his MAGA movement. And where is Trump in McCarthy’s hour of need? Actually, I’m told from sources close to him that he’s been burning up the phone for McCarthy, but his pleas don’t seem to be making any impact,” Palmeri wrote.

Trump has reportedly been working the phones for McCarthy as early as mid-December, to little avail.

“Even Trump loyalist Matt Gaetz hasn’t been moved. Instead, I’m told, the recipients of Trump’s calls have rebutted his request to support Kevin with relentless flirtation and flattery, Trump’s ultimate love language, such as suggesting that he should be speaker. Naturally, this deactivated and neutralized the ‘24 presidential candidate,” continued Palmeri.

“Is this all a sign that the MAGA movement has advanced beyond Trump, and even beyond Marjorie Taylor Greene and Jim Jordan, who support McCarthy? Unclear. But it is a sign that Trump has lost his juice,” she concluded.