McCarthy Endorses Tom Emmer as Speaker
The candidates for House Speaker are starting to emerge as the GOP plans to caucus on Monday to identify the candidate that will be put to a vote on Tuesday.
The overall favorite has been identified as House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN).
Emmer already has the endorsement of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), but he does not have the support of Donald Trump.
Can He Do It?
That is the burning question and the answer seems fairly apparent… no.
McCarthy, who Trump also supports, put his full endorsement behind Emmer for Speaker.
He stated, "He is the right person for the job. He can unite the conference. He understands the dynamics of the conference. He also understands what it takes to win and keep a majority."
Emmer added, "Our Conference remains at a crossroads, and the deck is stacked against us. We have no choice but to fight like hell to hold on to our House majority and deliver on our conservative agenda."
Trump has not endorsed Emmer because Emmer has not yet endorsed Trump for the primary race, and his spokespeople have openly stated they think Emmer is the enemy because of this.
This is the same reason that the MAGA contingent of the House did not back Rep. Scalise (R-LA), who had won the first ballot.
We have about 30 people in the House right now who are dictating the entire race, and neither of them will budge in terms of backing a candidate associated with Trump or one that is MAGA.
If the emerging candidate fails on Tuesday, I don't know where they go from here. Both sides have dug in firmly, and they are unwilling to give.
For the record, Emmer's team says they have no issue with Trump, and I have seen reports that Emmer plans on reaching out to Trump to rectify this before the vote.
I won't say for sure that Emmer would lose a vote, but as things stand, he won't get elected. He needs to do a lot of convincing over the next day or two, so we shall see if that changes and the GOP can finally get out of its own way and get back to business.
