Former President Donald Trump celebrated Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s election as House speaker on Saturday, saying that by supporting the California Republican, he did “a great service” for the country.
Trump, who has had a poor relationship with numerous media organizations since his 2016 presidential campaign, used Truth Social to convey his disappointment about McCarthy’s victory while still paying the media a backhanded compliment.
He wrote, “The Fake News Media was, believe it or not, very generous in their reporting that I considerably supported Kevin McCarthy in becoming Speaker of the House.” “I did our Country a great favor, thank you.”
For his 4 years in office, Trump, who developed to become the GOP’s most potent political kingmaker, attempted to convince conservatives who were on the fence about McCarthy that the party’s interests would be advanced on issues like taxes, the deficit, immigration, and international relations.
The city finally made a breakthrough and defeated Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York 216-212 in the speakership vote after 15 voting rounds during which McCarthy was disagreed by several Freedom Caucus lawmakers who wanted to see the House GOP Conference move in a different direction.
McCarthy has long supported Trump and has since softened his criticism of him in light of the violence at the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Only a few days after the uprising, McCarthy visited Mar-a-Lago to meet with Trump, setting the groundwork for their ongoing political collaboration.
Recently, Trump had repeated his support for McCarthy, telling republicans that it was not in their best interests for differences over the leadership of the California legislator to turn into an “embarrassing defeat.”
