Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) stated Wednesday in response to former President Donald Trump’s endorsement of Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-FL) for House speaker that the former president’s renewed endorsement of McCarthy was “sad.”
Gaetz is one of 20 conservative holdouts who opposed McCarthy’s bid for speakership on Tuesday. McCarthy was 16 votes shy of the threshold. Twenty GOP lawmakers opposed McCarthy – about 10 percent of the Republican House majority.
“Sad!” Gaetz told Fox News. “This changes neither my view of McCarthy, nor Trump, nor my vote.”
Trump’s renewed endorsement came after he appeared non-committal on Tuesday after McCarthy’s failed to collect enough votes during three rounds of voting.
McCarthy and Trump allegedly spoke on the phone Tuesday evening. The following morning, Trump issued a statement in support of McCarthy.
“REPUBLICANS, DO NOT TURN A GREAT TRIUMPH INTO A GIANT & EMBARRASSING DEFEAT. IT’S TIME TO CELEBRATE, YOU DESERVE IT,” he said. “Kevin McCarthy will do a good job, and maybe even a GREAT JOB – JUST WATCH!”
Wednesday at noon the House convened for a fourth round of voting. The rounds of voting will continue until a lawmaker secures enough votes to meet the threshold.
On the fourth attempt, McCarthy again failed to collect enough votes to meet the threshold, with McCarthy’s opposition of 20 rallying being Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL).
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.
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