McCarthy on Securing Votes for Speakership: 'I'm Not Going Anywhere'

House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) told reporters on Tuesday after a Republican Conference meeting that he is “not going anywhere” and will fight to become speaker no matter how many rounds of votes it takes.

“We have worked for a long time. I’ve been leader for four years. I came into this position [and] we had less than 200 members. We are now sitting in the majority,” McCarthy told reporters on Tuesday after an “intense” conference meeting where the House Freedom Caucus wanted him to meet certain demands before they would vote for him.

“For the last two months, we worked together as a whole conference to develop rules that empower all members, but we’re not empowering certain members over others,”  McCarthy continued. “Last night, I was presented the only way to have 218 votes [is] if I provided certain members with certain positions, certain gavels to take over the Church Committee, to have certain budgets.”

McCarthy also acknowledged that Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) told him that he wouldn’t mind if the vote goes to a plurality and incoming House Democrat Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) wins the speakership if the Freedom Caucus’s demands are not met.

“That’s not about America,” he added. “I will always fight to put the American people first, not a few individuals that want something for themselves. So we may have a battle on the floor. But the battle is for the conference and the country, and that’s fine with me.”

“We put forth to the American public a Commitment to America. There’s times we’re going to have to argue with our own members if they’re looking at only positions for themselves, not for the country.”

When a reporter asked what McCarthy would do if the vote took numerous ballots, he said, “I have the record for the longest speech ever on the floor. I don’t have a problem getting a record for the most votes for speaker too.”

“I don’t see how a few people, maybe it’s five, maybe it’s 20, sit because they want a gavel that they can’t earn by the Conference of themselves. That would be interesting to me. That’s not what the constituents voted for,” the Republican Leader added.

Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jbliss@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter @JacobMBliss.