Trump ‘Urged’ McCarthy to Take MAGA Deal He Rejected to Win Speakership: Report
CNN’s Jake Tapper discussed Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) rocky battle to become House speaker on Tuesday with former White House correspondent Kaitlin Collins and anchors Kasie Hunt, John King, and Dana Bash.
The conversation eventually turned to McCarthy’s tenuous relationship with former President Donald Trump, who reportedly both unsuccessfuly whipped votes for McCarthy and advised him to take the deal offered by the MAGA House members refusing to support him.
“Is McCarthy feared or loved?” asked Tapper as the House was convening to vote.
“No, not really. And I think that that’s the crux of the issue here. I mean, look, we all know and to Lauren’s point, I mean, if McCarthy could give them something that would make him the speaker of the House, he would do it. He has done everything. I mean, he has compromised so much of himself,” Hunt replied, adding:
I mean, if you think about when he went back down to Mar-a-Lago after the January 6th attack, what was that about? It was about becoming speaker of the House. He was willing to sacrifice what he had just weeks previously claimed were core values of his to achieve that goal. So he really can’t give these people what he wants. And the reality is, I mean, I’ve covered, Dana, you’ve been, you know, Kevin McCarthy very well. So do you, John. I’ve covered him for for many years, and he is very, very good at telling people one on one inside rooms exactly what they want to hear.
“Everyone comes out of the room thinking, Oh, he’s on my side. Oh, okay, he gets it. He’s really smart. He understands what I want. But the reality is he can’t be all things to all people. And it’s clearly coming back to bite him now,” Hunt concluded.
“And what’s interesting, Kaitlan, also, is the subtext here about Donald Trump, who has had a rocky relationship with Kevin McCarthy but has been all in with Kevin McCarthy on this race,” Tapper interjected.
“But it’s one of those relationships where Trump is only all in as long as Kevin McCarthy is on the path to be speaker. I mean, there’s a world where McCarthy loses out and Trump is okay with that,” Collins replied.
“I mean, he declined for a while to actually endorse him. Finally, in mid-December, he said he deserved a shot at being House speaker and he talked about John Boehner and Paul Ryan. I am told that last night, though, Trump called Kevin McCarthy and urged him to accept the deal that was being offered to him by these hardline Republicans last night,” Collins continued, concluding:
A lot of that are the concessions that Kevin McCarthy was prepared to make. Obviously, McCarthy declined to take that. But I think part of this is that it’s so personal for a lot of these members.
When McCarthy either endorsed their primary opponent or didn’t come out in support of them, that is why they’re not willing to accept any of the concessions, even though it would make him a pretty weak speaker. And actually it would be everything that they want it.
Watch the full clip above via CNN
