‘It’s All in Jeopardy’: McCarthy Says Republican Opponents of His House Speakership Haven’t Moved

Then House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) speaks during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Oct. 31, 2019. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) warned that Republican opponents to his House speakership bid have not moved amid efforts by former President Donald Trump to convince those lawmakers.

Former House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Biggs (R-Ariz) along with Reps. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.), Bob Good (R-Va.), Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), and Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) have publicly signaled they would not vote for McCarthy. With Republicans having a slim majority in the House during the next Congress, it’s not clear if McCarthy—the incoming House majority leader—has enough votes to become speaker.

During an appearance on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show on Friday, McCarthy said that he has been communicating with the five aforementioned lawmakers, “but they have not moved.”

“And the difficulty here is that, you know, we are the only Republican entity stopping the Biden administration, but we’re also going to be the only ones that can move forward,” the California Republican told the show. “But it would delay everything, getting committees up and running, being able to do the things that you know we need to get done from the very beginning.”

McCarthy agreed with a comment that the five defections hamper Republicans’ ability for the party to accomplish its legislative goals.

“It’s not only delaying that. It’s being prepared to not only defend the majority but grow the majority. You want to take advantage of having the majority,” McCarthy said on the show Friday. “Remember, this is a presidential year, so you only have so many months to really get out there and govern. And you want to hit the ground running. Every day you lose, if you lose a quarter, you don’t start strong.”

A longtime member of the Republican House leadership, McCarthy has never been elected House speaker. In 2015, he was in the running to replace then-House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) but dropped out before former Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) succeeded him.

“So you don’t get new, stronger candidates. You don’t get more resources to be able to supply those candidates to get the message out. And people look at us and believe, are you ready to be the majority if this is what’s happening?” he added. “How can you pass the big bills? How can you change the course of history? How can you secure the border? How can you become energy independent? How can you get passed the parents’ bill of rights? It’s all in jeopardy.”

President Donald Trump speaks with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) outside the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on April 22, 2020. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

However, toward the end of the interview Friday, McCarthy signaled that he believes he will be elected House speaker.

Trump Endorsement

Over the weekend, Trump announced he’s endorsing McCarthy in his House speaker bid and said the five detractors should give it up.

“Look, I think this: Kevin has worked very hard,” Trump told Breitbart, adding, “I support McCarthy.” “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.”

Some of the GOP lawmakers who oppose McCarthy indicated that he doesn’t have the leadership ability in the face of Democrat gains.

“Rep. Norman sincerely likes Rep. McCarthy on a personal level,” a spokesman for Norman told The Epoch Times last week. “However, Rep. Norman is extremely concerned with the direction of this country, particularly with respect to the federal government’s out-of-control spending and outrageous national debt.”

More than a week ago, Biggs wrote that he is launching a bid to become House speaker. In an opinion article, the Arizona congressman said that he believes McCarthy is an “establishment” figure.

“The purpose of the establishment is not to better the lives of Americans, the purpose is to gain and keep power. If anyone besides the establishment class experiences positive effects from the rule of the establishment, it is merely serendipitous,” Biggs continued.

But Trump stressed Saturday that he believes “it’s a very dangerous game that’s being played” and “some bad things could happen” if McCarthy doesn’t get elected. Other than the five public defectors, McCarthy appears to enjoy broad support among the GOP caucus.

“I’m friendly with a lot of those people who are against Kevin,“ Trump told Breitbart. ”I think almost every one of them are very much inclined toward Trump, and me toward them. But I have to tell them, and I have told them, you’re playing a very dangerous game. You could end up with [a] worse situation. I don’t even want to say what it is, but I could tell you it’s a worse situation.”