Republican holdouts against making Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) speaker of the House earlier this month derided former President Donald Trump’s attempt to take credit for the lawmaker’s eventual victory, ABC News reported Friday.
Trump crowed that he “greatly helped” McCarthy finally win the position as speaker. “I did the country a big favor!” Trump gushed on his Truth Social platform following reports he worked the phones to get some movement before the hard-fought 15th and final vote.
McCarthy thanked Trump after his victory with a video clip that Trump then posted on Truth Social.
“He was with me from the beginning,” McCarthy said. “He was all in. He would call me, and he would call others.” He credited Trump with “helping get those final votes.”
But Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.), a staunch McCarthy foe, told ABC News that “President Trump had no influence on the votes, myself or any of my colleagues.”
Good said he finally voted for McCarthy only when it “became clear that it was inevitable that Mr. McCarthy was going to become speaker, and I saw no reason to prolong that through the weekend.”
Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) also told ABC that Trump “didn’t have anything” to do with his ultimate decision to back McCarthy. “In fact, I disagreed with him getting involved” in the battle, Norman said.
Both Good and Norman were among the initial five members of the informal “Never Kevin” group opposed to McCarthy, ABC noted. The group eventually grew to 20 House Republicans.
Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) also insisted that Trump had nothing to do with his eventual vote for McCarthy.
“My decision was based on the voters of Montana and to support the Constitution,” Rosendale said. “I was meeting and listening to my constituents, and my effort was always focused on making sure we had a much more open process.”
Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) dodged the question of Trump’s effect on the vote, telling ABC: “I’m just ready to go forward together.”
Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) insisted that Trump “certainly had influence in the process.” He was the only lawmaker who spoke to ABC who took that position, the network noted.
Whether or not Trump turned the vote for McCarthy is important to Republicans’ perception of Trump’s continuing influence in the party.
The initial feeble support for McCarthy was a blow to Trump, who had supported the lawmaker for speaker. He even appeared to back off his endorsement as McCarthy was defeated in vote after vote.
Just days before McCarthy won, Trump appeared to let him twist in the wind after he’d lost three rounds of votes. Asked on NBC News if he would continue to support the California Republican, Trump responded: “Let’s see what happens.”
He added: “I got everybody calling me wanting my support.”
Once McCarthy won, Trump grabbed the credit.