Trump ‘Working the Phones’ to Little Avail In Effort to Whip GOP Votes For Kevin McCarthy: Report

Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images.

Former President Donald Trump is working behind the scenes to whip votes among GOP House members to help Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) become Speaker, but to little avail, a new report from the New York Times details.

Maggie Haberman along with Catie Edmondson and Annie Karni broke down the challenges McCarthy is facing to secure enough votes in the razor thing GOP majority to become Speaker and noted that Trump is “working the phones” and “personally pitching right-wing lawmakers” on behalf of McCarthy.

Trump, however, “has had little success to date in moving lawmakers over to Mr. McCarthy’s side,” the report added as at least five lawmakers continue to pose a challenge.

The Times explains that Trump himself still may have some reservations about McCarthy, but sees no other viable alternative:

Mr. Trump, who has announced he is running for president again in 2024, has been calling members who are ambivalent, at best, about Mr. McCarthy’s bid for the speakership and trying to persuade them that it is the best option, according to three people familiar with the calls.

Mr. Trump, according to people close to him, is not entirely sold on the notion of Mr. McCarthy as a strong Speaker. But he considers Mr. McCarthy better than the alternative, including improbable scenarios in which the job instead might go to a moderate who can draw some votes from Democrats, or in which a handful of Republicans defect and help to elect a Democratic Speaker.

The driving force behind Trump’s effort to whip for McCarthy is unknown, according to the report, but Trump reportedly has spoken to several hard-right Republican allies:

The former president has spoken with Eli Crane, an incoming Republican congressman from Arizona, and Representative Ralph Norman, Republican of South Carolina, among others. Mr. Crane was part of a group of seven current and incoming Republican lawmakers who signed a letter with a list of concessions they are demanding from their leaders in the next Congress, including making it easier to force a vote to remove the Speaker — something that Mr. McCarthy has so far resisted.

Mr. Norman, who has described himself as a “hard no” against Mr. McCarthy, declined to discuss his call with Mr. Trump, describing it as a “private conversation.” He said he was still undecided about whom he would support for Speaker. Mr. Crane did not respond to requests for comment.