Trump Shoots Down Scalise’s Speaker Bid Over His Health Concerns: ‘Don’t Know How You Can Do the Job’ With Cancer

Former President Donald Trump took an unusually measured approach by rejecting Rep. Steve Scalise’s (R-LA) House Speaker nomination on the grounds of the congressman’s health.

Despite Trump endorsing Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) to succeed Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Scalise clenched the GOP nomination for the role on Wednesday by winning the House Republican Conference vote. Questions remain about whether Scalise actually has enough votes to become speaker, and there have been recurring concerns about his health while he undergoes treatment for blood cancer.

In a Thursday radio interview with Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade, Trump insisted that he likes “both” Jordan and Scalise, but argued against speakership for the latter because he’s “in serious trouble from the standpoint of his cancer.” Kilmeade repeatedly tried to ask if Scalise’s health was the primary motivator behind Trump’s Jordan endorsement, though Trump wouldn’t directly answer the question, focusing primarily on Scalise’s stamina between the cancer and the job demands.

TRUMP: He’s got to get better for himself. I’m not talking about even the country now. I’m saying he’s got to get better. And this is tremendous stress. All of the things that you hear about and, you know, things that you don’t want to get involved in from the standpoint of getting. Well, Steve is going through very, very serious cancer therapy. And of course, then he had that horrible attack years ago that, you know, it was amazing that he he came back. I went to the hospital. I was with him the night it happened. I was literally with him, holding his hand. And I was there the night that it happened that the doctors gave him probably a 10 percent chance that he made it. But there’s tremendous after effects there. But he’s got a very serious form of cancer. And, you know, most importantly, I want Steve to get well, I just don’t know how you can do the job when you have — that’s a serious problem.

KILMEADE: Is that the only reason you endorsed Jim Jordan?

TRUMP: And you know what it does? The sweep is they drain you of strength. Supposedly. It’s like a draining of strength. And we need tremendous strength both inside and out, because we have radical left, lunatics like Nancy Pelosi and Schiff and all these crazy people that are so bad for our country. And they’ve got to fight them off and they’ve got to fight the outside world.

KILMEADE: Right. So is that the only reason, Mr. President, is that the only reason?

TRUMP: He is really hurt by by the, you know, the amount of everything that he’s going through.

KILMEADE: Is that the only reason you pick Jim Jordan over Steve Scalise? His health?

TRUMP: I like Jim. I think Jim’s great. I like them both, by the way. But I think Jim is a great, tremendous fighter, a tough guy. Really like him a lot. But, you know, don’t forget, they have a vote now. They have to vote. And I think it’s going to be very hard, maybe in either case, for somebody to get you know, if you lose four votes, you can’t get it. Don’t you know, I think Steve will lose far more than four. And I think probably Jim will, too. And then you end up in one of these crazy stalemates. It’s a it’s a very interesting situation. I like him very much. He likes me very much. I was there the night that he was so badly hurt. I was literally hearing that he wasn’t going to be able to make it from the doctors. They were saying that they did a great job and he did a great job. But, you know, he’s got to get well —

KILMEADE: Is that the only reason you picked him over Jim Jordan? It looks like Jim Jordan will now vote for Steve Scalise.

TRUMP: Well, I mean, look, I’m going to enjoy I’m going to be with anybody they pick. And if Jim decides to do that, that’s going to be up to Jim. But I will certainly be with anybody that, you know, I get along with. Frankly, I get along with all of them. But, I mean, the one thing with Steve, he’s got to get well, he’s got to get well, he’s got to get strong.

Listen above, via Fox News Radio.