Though former President Trump hasn’t been overly involved in the battle over who will be the next Speaker of the House, staying out of the fight over McCarthy and then chiming in only to support Jim Jordan, he just jumped back in to take a wrecking ball to House Majority Whip Tom Emmer’s attempt to be Speaker.
Trump did so on Truth Social, calling the “moderate” GOP politician a “globalist RINO” who should not be supported by the GOP in its attempts to choose a new Speaker of the House and get on with the business of legislating.
In that Truth Social post, Trump said, “I have many wonderful friends wanting to be Speaker of the House, and some are truly great Warriors. RINO Tom Emmer, who I do not know well, is not one of them. He never respected the Power of a Trump Endorsement, or the breadth and scope of MAGA—MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! He fought me all the way, and actually spent more time defending Ilhan Omar, than he did me—He is totally out-of-touch with Republican Voters.“
Continuing, he added, “I believe he has now learned his lesson, because he is saying that he is Pro-Trump all the way, but who can ever be sure? Has he only changed because that’s what it takes to win? The Republican Party cannot take that chance, because that’s not where the America First Voters are. Voting for a Globalist RINO like Tom Emmer would be a tragic mistake!”
A House GOP personality told Breitbart, commenting on Emmer’s attempt to be Speaker, “Tom Emmer had a less than stellar performance against backbench members. That was a weak showing and embarrassing. His team said it would take 2 ballots to secure the nomination; it ended up taking 5,” one House GOP source said. “He has compounding problems with social conservatives for his support for the transgender agenda and MAGA members for his opposition to President Trump. I would expect strong opposition to tank him on the House floor.”
Things then went even worse for Emmer as, unable to cobble together the votes to become Speaker, he had to withdraw, making him the third GOP personality to try and fail to win the Speaker’s gavel. He was preceded by Steve Scalise, widely regarded as similar in views to Kevin McCarthy and Jim Jordan, a far more MAGA-friendly choice supported by the GOP base but hated by do-nothing Chamber of Commerce Republicans in the pocket of Big Business.
The AP, commenting on why the GOP wouldn’t back Emmer, said, “Many Emmer opponents were resisting a leader who voted for the budget deal that McCarthy struck with Biden earlier this year, which set federal spending levels that far-right Republicans don’t agree with and now want to undo. They are pursuing steeper cuts to federal programs and services with next month’s funding deadline.”
It remains to be seen who the GOP can rally behind, if anyone, as the weeks without a permanent Speaker for this session of Congress drag on with Patrick McHenry, the Speaker pro tempore, still wielding the gavel.
"*" indicates required fields