Former President Donald Trump dismissed rumors that he supported one of Rep. Kevin McCarthy‘s (R-CA) challengers for House speaker instead of McCarthy on Wednesday.
A message that appeared to come from Trump’s Save America PAC claimed that the former president was unhappy with McCarthy because he was failing to meet “promises” he made and therefore switched his support to Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL). However, Trump claimed he never put out the statement and that his support for McCarthy stands.
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“I have always supported Byron Donalds, have consistently endorsed him for Congress and, in fact, feel that I was a primary reason he entered politics in the first place. He is a young man with a great future,” Trump said on Truth Social. “With that all being said, the story and statement that was just put out that I endorsed Byron for Speaker of the House is fake and fraudulent. He will have his day, and it will be a big one, but not now.”
Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), one of 20 GOP lawmakers to vote against McCarthy on Tuesday, nominated Donalds on Wednesday, claiming it was the first time in history that two black candidates were being put forth for House speaker after Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) was nominated by the Democrats.
The group of 20 conservative lawmakers, who are adamant in their opposition to McCarthy, have urged McCarthy to step aside to let the party unite around a different leader. McCarthy has consistently received over 200 votes in the six rounds so far, but he’s short of the 218 required to become speaker.
Roy said his opposition to McCarthy is due to a lack of changes to rules that the conservative group of detractors have been pursuing for months. McCarthy has made major concessions though.
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Voting for the speaker has taken a brief intermission, but a seventh round of voting will commence at 8 p.m. Wednesday. New House members have not been sworn in so far despite expecting to be sworn in on Tuesday. Rules dictate that they cannot take the oath of office until the speaker has been decided.
