It took fifteen ballots for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA.) to win the Speaker’s gavel. Yet, for all those fifteen ballots, McCarthy had Trump’s support, something former Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.) believes shows the former President is “no longer in control.”
Speaking on NBC‘s “Meet the Press,” Curbelo highlighted that “The first time [former President Donald] Trump spoke out and kind of pushed these members,” he was ignored.
He added that some opposing McCarthy vocalized being disinterested in what the former President had to say.
Trump came out in support of McCarthy before the fourth ballot, but it still took the GOP eleven more ballots before McCarthy was elected.
However, even before the fourth ballot, Trump had indicated McCarthy was his choice for Speaker as far back as June.
But, Trump’s endorsement, and the many calls he apparently made to lawmakers, seemed less effectual than the wheeling and dealing McCarthy and his supporters had to make on the House floor.
Curbelo, who lost his reelection bid in 2018, explained that during his time in the House — which coincided with the first two years of Trump’s Presidency — the then-president’s influence was strong.
Curbelo relayed that lawmakers would wait to hear what Trump would say or see what he would do before making a move.
However, the Florida Republican shared his belief that that era was over.
But McCarthy, after obtaining the Speaker’s gavel, attempted to quash rumors the former President’s influence was waning.
McCarthy asserted on Saturday that people shouldn’t “doubt [Trump’s] influence,” adding that the former President supported him from the beginning.
