Far-right Trump supporters have failed Republican McCarthy three times in the election for chairman of the House of Representatives. Now the ex-US President himself is speaking up and offers his party member support.
Former US President Donald Trump has called on all Republicans in the House of Representatives in Washington to elect Kevin McCarthy as the new chairman of the Congress Chamber. Trump launched the appeal online after McCarthy failed to obtain the required simple majority in three rounds of voting the previous day, despite his conservative Republicans having a majority in the House of Representatives. A number of far-right Trump supporters in the Republican faction have refused to support McCarthy because they see him as too moderate.
Republican Kevin McCarthy had hoped to be carried loosely on a "red wave" into the office of speaker of the House of Representatives. But even if the leader of the Conservatives in the Congress Chamber should still be elected in a renewed attempt, he will still be damaged after the chaotic events in Congress.
For the time being, McCarthy is sticking to his goal of being elected Speaker of the House, succeeding Democrat Nancy Pelosi. The MP from the state of California can hardly afford dissenters. In the midterm elections on November 8, the Republicans had won only a narrow majority in the House of Representatives. They make up 222 of the 435 MEPs, which is just above the majority of 218 votes. The "red wave", as a landslide victory of the Republicans is called because of their party color, which was expected by many, failed to materialize. Now the right-wing party can no longer celebrate its victory in the House of Representatives. The contested election of the "speaker" could further deepen internal divisions among the Republicans - and endanger McCarthy's political career, who wanted to take over the third highest office in the United States.
The former minority Republican leader has always had the support of Trump, who remains highly influential in the party. He won it thanks to a cuddly course towards the right-wing populist: just about a week after Trump left the White House in disgrace after the Capitol storm in January 2021, McCarthy was the first senior Republican to have the ex-president in his luxury property Visited Mar-a-Lago in Florida. He helped Trump gradually regain his power over the party - and at the same time made his loyalty to the people's tribune clear.
Shortly after the Capitol was stormed, McCarthy said publicly that Trump was "responsible" for the attack on Congress. But then, like many Republicans, he did an about-face, based on the realization that Trump will remain the idol of the right-wing electorate.
Right-wing MPs are now making life difficult for him, despite Trump's blessing, wanting to commit him to a radical course against President Joe Biden's administration and secure more influence for themselves. McCarthy caused a stir in October when he warned that there would be no more "blank checks" for Ukraine in the future.
