The race for the White House is right around the corner. And every candidate is fighting tooth and nail for the Republican nomination.
But now the GOP House Speaker made a presidential endorsement no one saw coming.
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) announced his support for former President Trump’s reelection in 2024, breaking months of silence on the subject.
McCarthy stated in an interview with CBS Sunday Morning that he expects Trump to be the Republican nominee in 2024 and that he will support him.
“I will support the president. I will support President Trump,” McCarthy said.
He also predicted that if President Joe Biden is the Democratic nominee, Trump will be reelected and Republicans will gain seats in the House and control of the Senate next year.
In the interview, CBS News’ chief election and campaign correspondent Robert Costa asked McCarthy if he would be willing to serve in Trump’s Cabinet, to which McCarthy said that he would.
“In the right position. Look, if I’m the best person for the job, yes. I worked with President Trump on a lot of policies. We worked together to win the majority, but we also have a relationship where we’re very honest with one another,” McCarthy said.
McCarthy’s support comes after the former speaker said on Wednesday that he will resign from the House by the end of the year “to serve America in new ways.”
In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, he promised to “continue to recruit our country’s best and brightest to run for elected office.”
“The Republican Party is expanding every day, and I am committed to lending my experience to support the next generation of leaders,” he told reporters.
McCarthy was dismissed as House Speaker for the first time in the chamber’s history in October, after wielding the gavel for nearly nine months.
Following McCarthy’s departure, speculation grew as to whether he would run for reelection to his seat, which he has held since 2007, or quit.
McCarthy has consistently been a close backer of Trump, including backing Donald Trump’s phony assertions that the 2020 presidential election was stolen.
McCarthy and Trump disagreed on the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol protest, with McCarthy claiming on the House floor that Trump “bears responsibility” for the attack and failing to call off the protesters.
McCarthy, on the other hand, strengthened his relations with Trump in the weeks following the incident, paying him a visit at Mar-a-Lago and later claiming that Trump did not “provoke” the attack.
He also advocated for the removal of former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) from House GOP leadership due to her criticism of Trump’s assertions.
Trump and McCarthy apparently had heated moments, notably after McCarthy was fired. McCarthy, according to The Washington Post, blasted Trump after the previous president declined to intervene and condemn his removal.
According to the Post, Trump was irritated with McCarthy because he did not endorse him and the House did not vote to overturn his two impeachments.
Stay tuned to the DC Daily Journal.
