Global Courant
As the 2024 election gets underway, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who has yet to support anyone in the Republican presidential primary, was quick to backtrack this week on a comment that cast doubt on Donald Trump’s re-election chances.
McCarthy called Trump Tuesday to explain what he said earlier that day on CNBC — emphasizing that the speaker is still loyal to the former president, a source told ABC News.
“Can he win that election? Yes, he can win that election. The question is, is he the strongest to win the election? I don’t know that answer,” McCarthy had said during an interview with CNBC’s Joe Kernen. “But can anyone beat Biden? Yes, anyone can beat Biden. Can Biden beat other people? Yes, Biden can beat them. It’s on any given day.”
McCarthy also said at the time that “Trump’s policies are better” than Biden.
The speaker was initially quick to backtrack on the part of his remarks about Trump’s chances against Breitbart that “Trump is stronger today than he was in 2016” and points to a Morning Consult poll that showed Trump beating Biden. (Other recent surveys have shown that Biden has an edge over Trump.)
“As usual, the media is trying to drive a wedge between President Trump and House Republicans as our committees hold Biden’s (Department of Justice) accountable for their bipartisan levels of justice,” McCarthy told the right-wing outlet.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy talks to reporters after House votes, at the Capitol in Washington, June 22, 2023.
J. Scott Appelwit/AP
ABC News’ Rachel Scott — who was one of two reporters on a plane with Trump to New Hampshire on Tuesday — said Trump took note of what McCarthy said: While on the plane, he pulled out a stack of papers that included McCarthy’s comments .
It’s not the first time the two have disagreed. After the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, McCarthy said Trump “bears responsibility” for what happened.
Weeks later, McCarthy visited Trump at Florida’s Mar-a-Lago and posed for a photo together. “I can talk to anyone,” McCarthy said at the time. “Just like I can go talk to Joe Biden if President Biden wants to talk.”
Trump endorsed McCarthy during the House speaker race in January and called several GOP holdouts to help shift votes in McCarthy’s favor. At times, to maintain his slim majority, McCarthy has also pledged to take action in the House to defend Trump.
Former President and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks at the New Hampshire Federation of Republican Women Lilac Luncheon in Concord, NH on June 27, 2023.
Reba Saldanha/Reuters
The speaker said last week he supports two resolutions to strike out Trump’s two impeachment proceedings — the most of any former president — and has publicly criticized the DOJ for impeaching Trump after allegedly mishandling government secrets during his absence.
McCarthy said the House GOP will also use its power to, in his words, hold Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg accountable and have the chairman of the Judiciary Committee push for documents and information from the prosecution, who indicted Trump over the falsifying business information. Trump pleaded not guilty.
Bragg’s attorney has said McCarthy and other lawmakers “chose to cooperate with Mr. Trump’s efforts to defame and belittle the integrity of elected prosecutors and judges.”
