OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Former President Donald Trump and Twitter CEO Elon Musk have joined forces for a common goal. Both men believe that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy should be the speaker of the House.
“Kevin McCarthy should be Speaker,” the Twitter CEO said in a tweet on Thursday before getting opinions from people who agreed and disagreed with him. “Subtle, but I am beginning to suspect opinions differ on this matter … If not McCarthy, then seriously who?” he added in another tweet.
Subtle, but I am beginning to suspect opinions differ on this matter …
If not McCarthy, then seriously who?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 5, 2023
That came after Trump issued an urgent message Wednesday morning and urged House Republicans to vote for Republican Kevin McCarthy as speaker after the party failed to pick a leader on its first day in control of the chamber.
“Some really good conversations took place last night, and it’s now time for all of our GREAT Republican House Members to VOTE FOR KEVIN, CLOSE THE DEAL, TAKE THE VICTORY, & WATCH CRAZY NANCY PELOSI FLY BACK HOME TO A VERY BROKEN CALIFORNIA, THE ONLY SPEAKER IN U.S. HISTORY TO HAVE LOST THE ’HOUSE’ TWICE!,” the former president said in a post on his Truth Social platform.
“REPUBLICANS, DO NOT TURN A GREAT TRIUMPH INTO A GIANT & EMBARRASSING DEFEAT. IT’S TIME TO CELEBRATE, YOU DESERVE IT. Kevin McCarthy will do a good job, and maybe even a GREAT JOB – JUST WATCH!” Trump added.
Trump added in another post: “TAKE THE VICTORY AND RUN!!!”
Trump fully backs McCarthy's speaker bid, posts 'VOTE FOR KEVIN' https://t.co/Lxlwe41zwA pic.twitter.com/jEamgiuQql
— New York Post (@nypost) January 4, 2023
McCarthy revealed on Tuesday night that he spoke to Trump and that the 45th president still supported him to be the speaker of the House.
“Trump has already reiterated his support; I talked to him tonight,” McCarthy told reporters.
Asked if Trump wanted him to keep pursuing the speaker’s gavel, McCarthy said, “Oh, yeah.”
“He thinks it’s better that all the Republicans get together and solve this, it doesn’t look good for Republicans, but we want to be able to solve it where we’re stronger in the long run,” he said. “Where what we went through today in the end becomes a positive that we’re actually focused, united.”
Trump previously warned against House Republicans playing games with the Speaker race.
“I like him,” Trump said of McCarthy back in December. “I think it’s a very dangerous game that’s being played. It’s a very dangerous game. Some bad things could happen. Look, we had Boehner and he was a strange person but we ended up with Paul Ryan who was ten times worse. Paul Ryan was an incompetent speaker. I think he goes down as the worst speaker in history. We took [out] Boehner—and a group of people, some of whom are the same, and they’re very good friends of mine. All those people are very good friends of mine.”
“Look, I think this: Kevin has worked very hard,” Trump continued. “He is just—it’s been exhausting. If you think, he’s been all over. I think he deserves the shot. Hopefully he’s going to be very strong and going to be very good and he’s going to do what everybody wants.”
Rep. Chip Roy of Texas made a historic move on the floor of the House on Wednesday as he and other Republicans sparred over Leader Kevin McCarthy’s bid for Speaker, who has failed to win the gavel after five votes, which is unprecedented in modern times.
Roy, during a floor speech, offered Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), as a candidate for speaker, though Donalds was just reelected to his second term in November. But that’s not what made the nomination historic. As Roy pointed out, it was “the first time in history, there have been two black Americans placed into the nomination for speaker of the House,” noting that Democrats had nominated the leader of their party, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York.
The Texas Republican went on to clarify, however, that his nomination wasn’t about the Donalds’ skin color but rather about injecting new blood in GOP leadership after the party underwhelmed during the midterm elections when most political analysts — even many Democrats — were expecting a “red wave.”
“We do not seek to judge people by the color of their skin, but rather the content of their character,” Roy said. “But there’s an important reason for nominating Byron, and that is this country needs a change. This country needs leadership that does not reflect this city, this town, that is badly broken.”
Initially, the 20 conservative Republicans nominated Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, but he turned down the nomination and has publicly supported McCarthy for the position.
