(JustPatriots.com)- During the tumultuous House speaker vote that sent establishment Republicans into a frenzy, then-House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy was not the only one receiving votes. Former President Donald Trump was eventually voted to be speaker after eight unsuccessful attempts to elect McCarthy, according to Free Beacon. Trump received two votes more than former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Rep. Matt Gaetz led the effort to oppose McCarthy. About 20 members of the House Freedom Caucus rejected the popular bid and called for Republicans to pick a consensus candidate, someone who has a better track record than McCarthy. Because the speaker does not need to be a member of the House of Representatives or even an elected official, Gaetz tossed Trump into the mix.
https://twitter.com/RepMattGaetz/status/1611057504120893440?s=20&t=xU-XHic2A_OuKuTcP_TVaQ
The decision to do so caught many conservatives off guard, especially after it was reported that Trump would have accepted the position if he was nominated. Both Kari Lake and General Michael Flynn confirmed the conversation to Western Journal. Saying that he would do it marked a slight change of sentiment because Trump had previously endorsed McCarthy for speaker, an endorsement that Gaetz went on to call “sad.”
But Trump continued to press House Republicans to resolve the battle. Gaetz did not initially back down after Trump’s endorsement of McCarthy, but in a show of sportsmanship, Trump called Gaetz personally to tell him to stand down. Gaetz and others went on to vote “present,” effectively lowering the threshold for McCarthy to become speaker.
McCarthy went on to lose the vote 15 times before being elected. He eventually credited Trump with closing the deal and acknowledged that his influence in the party is not gone.
“He was all in. He would call me and he would call others,” McCarthy said, noting that Trump wanted to focus on the issues hurting this country like the economy and weak border.
