Donald Trump is again testing the power of his endorsement.

With an early morning social media post on Friday, Trump inserted himself into the chaotic race to replace Kevin McCarthy as House speaker by backing Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan for the post. The move was the latest example of Trump attempting to flex his influence within a Republican Party he has already fundamentally reshaped in the eight years since his first White House bid.

“I think he does well. I hope he does well,” Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 GOP nomination, said of Jordan in a Friday interview with Real America’s Voice. “He’s got competition, as you understand. And they’re friendly with me, too. Very nice people and good people. We’ll see what happens.”

With Trump’s firm grip on the GOP base, his endorsement can effectively clear the field in many congressional primaries. But the speaker’s race is more complex, an intraparty fight that will play out in secret at points and in a tense environment with many Republicans furious about McCarthy’s ouster. Jordan is facing at least one other candidate — House Majority Leader Steve Scalise — who is also on good terms with Trump. It’s unclear whether anyone has enough votes to win the gavel and if Jordan were to lose, another Trump ally could emerge.

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    1 year ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    The move was the latest example of Trump attempting to flex his influence within a Republican Party he has already fundamentally reshaped in the eight years since his first White House bid.

    But the speaker’s race is more complex, an intraparty fight that will play out in secret at points and in a tense environment with many Republicans furious about McCarthy’s ouster.

    After creating a media firestorm Monday when he showed up at his civil fraud trial in New York, Trump quickly jumped on the speakership news that threatened to shift attention from his direction.

    In return, Trump awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom — the nation’s highest civilian honor — five days after the attack on the Capitol.

    Scalise, a veteran member of leadership who is also vying for the speaker’s gavel, has support from a significant portion of the Republican Conference, while other GOP lawmakers are either looking elsewhere or waiting to make their choices known.

    The last time they all gathered in the same room — shortly after McCarthy was removed as speaker — insults were hurled and some lawmakers even thought it could turn to blows.


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