House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told Breitbart News exclusively on Tuesday that he believes former President Donald Trump is “stronger today than he was in 2016.”
“As usual, the media is attempting to drive a wedge between President Trump and House Republicans as our committees are holding Biden’s DOJ accountable for their two-tiered levels of justice,” McCarthy said in a brief conversation with Breitbart News on Tuesday. “The only reason Biden is using his weaponized federal government to go after President Trump is because he is Biden’s strongest political opponent, as polling continues to show.”
McCarthy pointed to polls released on Tuesday from Morning Consult which show, for the first time the pollster began asking the question last year, Trump leading incumbent Democrat President Joe Biden.
“Just look at the numbers this morning—Trump is stronger today than he was in 2016,” McCarthy said.
The speaker’s comments here are significant because after an appearance on CNBC on Tuesday morning a CNN reporter selectively quoted one part of it that made it appear as though he was criticizing Trump. The broader conversation, however, shows McCarthy solidly defending the former president–more than media reaction to the interview would suggest–even though McCarthy has yet to formally endorse a candidate in the 2024 GOP presidential primary.
“Can Trump beat Biden?” McCarthy said when asked if Trump could win a general election. “Yeah, he can beat Biden.”
When asked if it is a good thing for the GOP if Trump is the nominee, McCarthy said: “Republicans get to select their nominee. I think if you want to go sheer policy to policy, it’s not what’s good for Republicans; it’s what’s good for America. Trump’s policies are better, straightforward, than Biden’s policies.”
McCarthy even said Trump’s having to fight various legal issues “also helps him” in the general election.
“Can he win an election? Yeah,” McCarthy said. “The question is–Is he the strongest to win the election? I don’t know that answer. But, can somebody—can anybody—beat Biden? Yeah, anybody can beat Biden. Can Biden beat other people? Yeah, Biden can beat them. It’s on any given day.”
In other words, what McCarthy is saying is GOP primary voters are going to decide who they want—and ask that very question—and that if they decide on Trump as the polls at this time suggest they will, that Trump can in fact win the election.
That’s why a tweet from CNN’s Kristen Holmes, which framed the comments from the Speaker as McCarthy doubting Trump in a general election, is particularly dishonest.
Kevin McCarthy says he thinks Trump could win the GOP nomination, but doesnt know if Trump is “strongest” candidate for his party.
“Can he win that election? Yeah he can…the question is, is he the strongest to win the election, I don’t know that answer,” McCarthy says on CNBC— Kristen Holmes (@KristenhCNN) June 27, 2023
McCarthy was not, as Holmes framed it, saying he doubts Trump in a general election—he was answering two separate questions, first about a primary and then about general election viability. But given the uproar across media, McCarthy’s decision to clarify it in comments to Breitbart News makes it even more poignant that he is saying he believes Trump is stronger in terms of general election viability than he has ever been before.
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