CNN
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In the weeks since former President Donald Trump launched his third presidential campaign, there have been few political moments to highlight his declining status within the Republican Party.
So far, Trump’s support for McCarthy has repeatedly failed to bring victory to Republicans in California. , on Thursday afternoon, again failed to get the 218 votes needed to rule the gavel.
McCarthy’s stumbling block put Trump in the spotlight. rice field.
“He was a big supporter of Kevin McCarthy, but these Trump-esque super-MAGA figures didn’t budge anyone,” the person said.
Mr. Trump’s failure to convince Republican lawmakers venerated by his “America First” movement is a turning point in the changing political climate in which he is now competing to become the next Republican presidential candidate. to the failure of several campaigns, including his Marla God dinner with openly white supremacists, calls to end the U.S. Constitution, and recent denunciations of anti-abortion opponents. The bruised former president entered 2023 with undeniably weak support among Republicans, who embraced his policies but seem increasingly open to their party’s new leadership.
And in the process of choosing a new chair, Republicans have made clear the difficulties that lie ahead of Trump navigating a presidential primary that is likely to be crowded with former allies in the coming months.
After Trump expressed strong support for McCarthy in a post on Truth Social Wednesday morning, a band of so-called “Never Kevin” Republicans remained in their defiance. According to a person familiar with Trump’s thinking, Trump thought his public statement of support for McCarthy would have ramifications for a stalled process.
In his post, Trump urged McCarthy’s most vehement opponents at the House GOP meeting to “get the deal done.”
“A great victory must not be turned into a gigantic and embarrassing defeat,” he declared, adding that he would later endorse Florida legislator Byron Donald, whose name was nominated by McCarthy’s opponents, but that the chairman’s job I don’t support him because…
“He will have his day and it will be a big one, but not now!” Trump said of Donald.
But within hours of re-supporting McCarthy’s speech bid, it became clear that Trump’s pleas had fallen on deaf ears.
In a stunning moment on the House floor, Far-Right Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert, a loyal Trump supporter and ex-president, tries to get her and other McCarthy holdouts to put an end to their antics. He expressed dissatisfaction with his efforts.
“Stop smearing campaigns and tactics that turn people against us. Even if my favorite president calls us and tells us to stop doing this. i think there is [former] The president needs to tell Kevin McCarthy that you don’t have the right to vote and it’s time to back out.
Hours earlier, Florida Rep. Matt Gates also flatly rejected Trump’s attempts to persuade him and his fellow rebels to line up behind McCarthy. Gates dismissed Trump’s meddling as “sad” and told Fox News Digital that the former president’s declaration of support for McCarthy was “not my opinion of McCarthy, nor my opinion of Trump, nor my vote.” “It hasn’t changed,” he said.
“If Matt Gates is ignoring you, that’s not a good sign,” said an ally of Trump involved in the 2024 campaign.
In an interview with CNN on Thursday, former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said any major “incentives” for Trump “should be ignored,” suggesting the former president may have been offended by Boebert’s comments the day before. suggested high.
“He has supported her so far. I don’t know if he will continue to support her,” Zinke said.
Trump called on McCarthy’s behalf earlier in the week to try and break the conservative blockade against him, but his efforts were fruitless, according to the person. One lawmaker I spoke with suggested he should run for chair himself, while refusing to stop opposing McCarthy. Yes, the person said, repeatedly arguing that he and several hardline conservatives would be credible supporters of a series of investigations that have long focused on the Bidens, Big Tech and other targets. .
With the impending Republican presidential primary likely to bring more scrutiny to his role within the party, Trump’s failure to influence McCarthy’s band of holdouts.
The former president has yet to attract opposition, but his lackluster campaign start has put some Republican candidates and their supporters on the path to alternative candidates to secure the 2024 nomination. I’ve come to believe that it might be easier than I originally thought. Within weeks of announcing his candidacy, Trump was accused of hosting a dinner with rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, and white supremacist Nick Fuentes. He has since drawn bipartisan criticism for proposing to terminate the constitution to allow him to return to office as president, and for criticizing abortion opponents during the 2022 midterm elections. , likely alienated some of his most loyal religious followers.
“It’s not my fault that Republicans didn’t live up to expectations…it’s the ‘abortion problem’ and the lives of many Republicans, especially mothers, who lost a lot of voters to rape, incest,” he said. Trump wrote in a recent Truth Social post.
Although Trump hasn’t campaigned since announcing his 2024 candidacy in November, he has worked hard to reach Republican voters with provocative policy proposals. “Censorship activities” he thinks.
With McCarthy’s future still hanging in the balance as additional votes rolled out on the House floor on Thursday, Trump announced plans to take on drug cartels and international drug traffickers if elected president again. He released a video outlining it. Among his proposals included urging Congress to enact a death penalty law for “drug smugglers and traffickers.”
