Ladies and gentlemen, we are officially in the post-Trump GOP. You can take last night’s futile machinations on the part of Donald Trump to get Kevin McCarthy elected House Speaker as yet another failure in a long string of failures. Just put Kevin’s name down next to Herschel Walker.
Here’s what happened: yesterday, as you recall, Trump waffled when asked if he was still supporting McCarthy for Speaker. That was seen as a major tactical error. It was thought that if Trump came out full voice for McCarthy right then, it might have helped him. He did not.
Then this morning, after what was a busy night of phone calls between Washington and Mar-a-Lago, Trump issued this edict to his troops. Or what he thought were his troops.
And the troops didn’t listen to him. You recall what I said yesterday about the fringe theory that Trump might become Speaker? It wasn’t fringe, that was actually discussed, according to Charlie Sykes, quoting Tara Palmieri:
I’m told from sources close to him that he’s been burning up the phone for McCarthy, but his pleas don’t seem to be making any impact. Even Trump loyalist Matt Gaetz hasn’t been moved. Instead, I’m told, the recipients of Trump’s calls have rebutted his request to support Kevin with relentless flirtation and flattery, Trump’s ultimate love language, such as suggesting that he should be speaker. Naturally, this deactivated and neutralized the ‘24 presidential candidate.
Although McCarthy insists that Trump is still in his corner, the reality is that Trump would have no qualms about tossing him under the bus. Not because he doesn’t like his Kevin, but because he doesn’t give a sh*t and he hates losing. Writes Palmeri:
Truthfully, Trump doesn’t really care who leads the House. But he’s a Republican candidate for president trying to prove that he’s the leader of the party, so he had to weigh in, even if those close to him wished he didn’t. Is this all a sign that the MAGA movement has advanced beyond Trump, and even beyond Marjorie Taylor Greene and Jim Jordan, who support McCarthy? Unclear. But it is a sign that Trump has lost his juice. “He likes the perks of being party leader, but he doesn’t take the responsibility seriously at all,” said a former Trump advisor who believes that a more motivated former commander-in-chief could have quelled the McCarthy rebellion with a sit-down at Mar-a-Lago. “He doesn’t give a crap. He’s not engaged enough. He should have fixed this instead of trading cards and playing golf.”
In other words, if you have been wondering what a post-Trump GOP will look like… well, here you go.
Trump’s pleas to the GOP caucus bounced off them like bullets off of Superman. Here’s the state of play right now.
Question: Do you think that Trump's statement urging people to vote for McCarthy changes the dynamic at all?
Sessions: I— I am hearing that the 19 are growing their vote. pic.twitter.com/iGNfcEKtzw— Acyn (@Acyn) January 4, 2023
Boom. And here’s another bombshell.
Ralph Norman on Steve Bannon's show: "We're growing in numbers, and we're gonna stay here as long as it takes … they all said it was only gonna be five of us. Well, they're wrong. There will be more than 20 of us today." pic.twitter.com/dAxfXyKZEl
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 4, 2023
McCarthy isn’t going to be elected Speaker today. Or any day, ever. Last night David Jolly, a former congressman from Florida, said that McCarthy was “done, done, done” and probably wouldn’t even “be in Congress next year.” I believe he’s right.
Yeah, McCarthy is screwed, no matter how many votes he has. And the worst part, according to Bill Palmer? McCarthy was always the only real chance they had for a Speaker (sad but true). Without him, they will be at the Dems’ mercy. Four lost votes have yet to teach them such.
Maybe if when Mattie Boy begged that pardon Trump had issued it Trump’s “order” would make a difference to him. But Mattie didn’t get what he wanted & still has to live with the prospect that some federal prosecutor will decide at least one witness willing to testify will be credible enough in his/her eyes to press charges. So he no longer cares what Trump thinks. Hell, Trump pressuring him, even if indirectly on social media will only make him dig in his heels deeper!
Anyone who thinks the mango moron would ever be Speaker is kidding themselves. He’d have to get up at 3:00 am to put on his make up, pouf his hair and put on his lifts in order to be at the Capitol EVERYDAY, including some weekends and holidays. Never gonna happen – he’s too damn lazy.