McCarthy Insists To CNN’s Manu Raju Votes for Speakership Will ‘Improve’ Despite Continued Opposition

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) insisted going into yet another vote for Speaker of the House on Friday that he expects his standing among House Republicans to improve.

CNN’s Manu Raju pressed McCarthy on Friday just before what will be the 12th vote for Speaker.

“Mr. leader, do you have the votes now? Do you have the votes?” Raju asked as he walked after him, eventually having so much trouble keeping up with McCarthy he got tangled up in his own cord and lost his audio.

“I think what you’re gonna find is the votes are going to improve right here. We have a couple people that are out for personal reasons, but you’ll see,” McCarthy said.

“But you don’t have a deal yet, right?” Raju asked.

McCarthy did not answer the last question and Raju revealed he’d lost audio.

“I’ve lost my audio, so I’m just going to toss right back to you,” he said, still messing with the wires.

Raju reported it’s highly unlikely McCarthy has the votes to become Speaker, with no major deal with opposition House Republicans being confirmed.

One of the Republicans McCarthy referred to as being out for personal reasons is Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX) who had been kept in Washington D.C. due to the repeated votes, but had to fly home as his wife gave birth this week.

Punchbowl News founder Jake Sherman reported on Friday after a House Republican conference call that McCarthy announced a deal had been reached with Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX).  Roy, one of the Republicans opposing McCarthy’s bid to become Speaker, quickly shot this down though and simply said “progress” had been made.

Others opposing McCarthy like Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) have also stood their ground in opposing McCarthy.

Politico also reported on Friday a growing “unrest” among House Republicans after multiple votes for McCarthy. The Republican leader was reportedly confronted by Rep. Ann Wagner (R-MO) with a letter signed by dozens of House Republicans demanding a meeting on his progress in gaining votes.

Watch above via CNN