Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy weighed on the direction of the 2024 elections and who could possibly be the next president of the United States. The 58-year-old spoke with CNN journalist Manu Raju in an exclusive interview on topics like his exit as the White House Speaker, GOP, including who he’s most likely to support in 2024 elections.
Raju asked the former Speaker, “Let me ask you this- is Trump the strongest candidate for your party?” McCarthy confidently said, “Well, Trump is going to be the nominee.” The CNN journalist questioned, “Do you support him right now in the Primary?” The 58-year-old clarified, “I haven’t endorsed him yet, but I support Trump for president.”
Raju pressed him to explain the difference between “not endorsing but supporting” the former president. McCarthy expounded, “I haven’t made some official endorsements.” The journalist questioned if the reason to not “officially endorse” Trump is because he thinks Trump’s ‘weaker prompts’ and his legal battles make him a “bad” candidate for their party.
To which McCarthy said, “In most cases, you’d worry about a thing like that.” The former Speaker highlighted the fact that it isn’t fair to put Trump inside the courtroom when the elections are right around the corner. He also revealed that the former president wouldn’t lose votes despite 91 criminal charges and a $250 million civil fraud trial pending in court.
Raju asked him if these mounting legal woes “wouldn’t hurt him even in the general election votes or the suburban voters and the like.” McCarthy said, “It hurt a little… It could hurt a little, but Biden is in a much worse situation,” mentioning how Trump hasn’t been able to properly campaign for the 2024 elections due to frequent court appearances.
Despite this, he’s beating Biden in several swing states. And, as proof, The New York Times and Siena College polls reveal Trump is leading in five of the six key battleground states, and the POTUS is losing against his Republican rival on grounds like his age and the mishandling of the American economy.
Spencer Weiss, a 53-year-old electrical substation specialist, said, “The world is falling apart under Biden. He backed the Democrat in 2020, but now he’s speaking in support of Trump, albeit with some hesitations, reported The New York Times . As for McCarthy, his relationship with the former president suffered all these years, especially after his exit as House Speaker.
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McCarthy, once Trump’s closest ally, didn’t receive enough support while being ousted from the Speaker role. When his leadership was threatened in the White House, the 77-year-old lent mild and ineffective support to the man he once addressed as “my Kevin” with a social media post.
The former president wrote, “Why is it that Republicans are always fighting among themselves; why aren’t they fighting the Radical Left Democrats who are destroying our country?” This was Trump’s only contribution when McCarthy was being ousted from his role. However, during a campaign stop in Iowa, he [Trump] addressed his relationship with the former Speaker.
The Republican front-runner said he has “always had a great relationship” with McCarthy. The 77-year-old added, “He said very nice things about me and the job I’ve done, so I appreciate that.”