Trump allies say he won’t back Tom Emmer for Speaker
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On Friday, former President Donald Trump told confidants that he does not support Tom Emmer, the House Majority Whip, in his bid to become Speaker of the House, further complicating the already-chaotic search for the next speaker.
The news comes as Emmer, a Minnesota Republican, has been privately courting lawmakers and has emerged as a leading candidate for the job. He has the backing of Kevin McCarthy, the former Speaker of the House.
But a prolonged attack by Trump, if it happens, could spell disaster, as no candidate can afford to lose more than a handful of electoral votes.
The former President's top aides are already trying to sink Emmer's campaign. Trump supporters are circulating opposition research about the congresswoman, and Friday afternoon's pro-Trump "War Room" podcast turned into a celebration of Emmer. During an interview on the show, top Trump advisor Boris Epshyteyn pointed out that Emmer still hasn't endorsed Trump in the GOP presidential primary. "If you're so out of touch with the Republican electorate, the MAGa movement, how can you even be in this conversation?" Epshyteyn asked. "That's the bottom line. Because when you look at these numbers, the energy, the heat, it's not the traditional Republican Party. It's the Trump Party, the MAGA Party.
Steve Bannon, a senior adviser to Trump in the White House and host of the "War Room," called Emmer a "Trump hater." Others close to Trump said that Emmer as Speaker would create a rupture between House Republicans and the party's presumptive presidential nominee. “Emmer has no connection to Trump,” said one adviser.
In private conversations Friday, Trump told people he was worried about Emmer's chances of becoming Speaker, telling two people who spoke with him that he did not think the Minnesota Republican was a fan of him. They said Trump was angry that Emmer had not defended him against the charges he faces. He pointed to Emmer's criticism of him after the January 6 Capitol riot, as well as reports that Emmer had advised Republican candidates to stay away from talking about Trump as chairman of the House GOP's campaign arm at the time.
"I don't think there's any friction between Whip Emmer and President Trump," Casey Nelson, Emmer's communications director, said in a statement. "As National Republican Congressional Committee Chair, he and President Trump worked together to help get rid of Nancy Pelosi and regain the majority, and if he's elected Speaker, he looks forward to building on that strong relationship."
Trump backed Jim Jordan's bid for House Judiciary Chair, but Jordan's bid fizzled Friday after House Republicans refused to continue to support him in a secret ballot. The Ohio Republican had already failed three times to secure the votes needed for Speaker, following Steve Scalise's failed bid and McCarthy's ouster.
With Jordan out of the race, other potential candidates could enter the race, including Oklahoma's Kevin Hern; Louisiana's Mike Johnson; and Texas' Jodey.
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