Kevin McCarthy appeared at the NY Times Dealbook Summit and suddenly he’s not a total Trump sycophant:
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) jabbed former President Donald Trump while being interviewed at the New York Times’s Dealbook Summit on Wednesday.
McCarthy was joined at the event by other big-name interviewees like Vice President Kamala Harris and controversial tech billionaire Elon Musk.
“I didn’t say he’d be a great president. He’ll be a better president,” McCarthy said on stage when asked about Trump possibly returning to the White House.
“If his campaign is about renew, rebuild and restore, he’ll win. If it’s about revenge, he’ll lose,” McCarthy added, according to NY Times coverage of the event.
McCarthy is widely credited with helping to rehabilitate Trump’s standing in the GOP after the former president had briefly become something of a pariah following the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The Times’s Robert Jimson also reported that McCarthy made clear he plans to vote for Trump if he is on the ballot in 2024, but only characterized their current relationship in vague terms:
McCarthy says he did not expect Trump to support him when he faced an ouster, and says he currently has an “interesting” relationship with the former president. He repeats that he would vote for Trump in the next election. “America would be stronger.”
While on stage at the event, McCarthy also briefly addressed his future in politics and said he is unsure if will run for reelection – adding he will “take the time” to decide.
It sure sounds like he’s getting ready to cash in. Why pretend he has a future in politics? He’s done.
It actually sounds like he is royally pissed that Trump didn’t step up and try to save his speakership. Poor Kev. Did he think that loyalty went both ways?