House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy aspires to become the Majority Leader when the Republican-controlled House convenes for the next session. Many Republicans support him, but a few are unhappy with his performance in the previous congress governed by Democrats.

Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Matt Rosendale (MT), Bob Good (VA), and Ralph Norman (R-SC) – all conservative Republicans — are pushing to replace McCarthy. However, former President Trump informs them that supporting any other candidate would be a mistake.

In an appearance with Breitbart News in Florida this month, former President Donald Trump used his influence to support McCarthy. Trump suggested that supporting McCarthy made the most sense since it would benefit the party and because McCarthy had earned the opportunity. “I like him,” remarked Trump of McCarthy.

“I think it’s a very dangerous game that’s being played It’s a very dangerous game. Some bad things could happen,” he said, noting that when Republicans attempted to oust then-Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) in 2015, they ended up with now-former Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin), whom Trump deemed to be even worse.

“Look, we had Boehner, and he was a strange person, but we ended up with Paul Ryan, who was ten times worse. Paul Ryan was an incompetent speaker. I think he goes down as the worst speaker in history. We took [out] Boehner—and a group of people, some of whom are the same, and they’re very good friends of mine. All those people are very good friends of mine,” Trump said.

Conservative Brief says that the Main Street Caucus head, South Dakota Republican Rep. Dusty Johnson, and vice chair, Oklahoma Republican Rep. Stephanie Bice, issued mail stating that the dozens of caucus members will only vote for Rep. McCarthy for Speaker.

“Yesterday Republican Main Street Caucus (RMSC) members met to discuss priorities for the upcoming votes on the House rules package and the election of a Speaker of the House. During that meeting, a strong consensus developed in three areas,” they said.

“1. Members of the Main Street Caucus will hold the line. Kevin McCarthy is best prepared to lead the 118th Congress, and we are prepared to vote for him for as long as it takes.

“2. Two proposed rules changes are problematic. Many in the Caucus expressed strong reservations regarding lowering the threshold on the motion to vacate and on changing Steering Committee criteria to facilitate what some have called “all views on all committees.” Any RMSC concessions in those areas would have to be met with real, tangible, and proven concessions by those blocking Kevin McCarthy’s election as Speaker,” the correspondence said.

“3. We won’t reward chaos. Any RMSC support for rule changes will be taken off the table if Kevin McCarthy is not expediently elected as Speaker of the House on January 3.

“As a group of more than 70 members committed to finding practical conservative solutions, we believe these priorities will ensure the Republican conference hits the ground running on day one of the new Congress. Americans elected a Republican Majority to provide a check and balance on the administration and to find solutions to the problems our nation is facing, we can’t do that if we don’t elect a Speaker on January 3,” it said, Conservative Brief noted.

Breitbart added:

Trump is hardly the first major conservative leader to raise these concerns. Nationally syndicated radio host Mark Levin has raised the concerns, as have people such as Reps. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and James Comer (R-KY)—the incoming chairmen respectively of the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees. Congresswoman-elect Harriet Hageman of Wyoming, who just defeated outgoing Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), has also warned of the concerns.

More on this story via The Republic Brief:

Trump acknowledged his support for McCarthy, “Look, I think this: Kevin has worked very hard,” Trump said. “He is just—it’s been exhausting. If you think, he’s been all over. I think he deserves the shot. Hopefully, he’s going to be very strong and going to be very good, and he’s going to do what everybody wants.” CONTINUE READING…