EXCLUSIVE: Republican Rep. Darrell Issa makes pitch for Jim Jordan for Speaker and says Trump’s Capitol Hill appearance would only be a ‘campaign appearance for himself’

Republican Rep. Darrell Issa is making the case for Rep. Jim Jordan to be the “mainstream leader” who can unite the far right and establishment conservatives as speaker — and says Donald Trump doesn’t have much influence on the matter.

Even though Jordan was considered “too conservative” to move up the ranks just a few short terms in Congress ago, “he has become, if you will, a mainstream leader within the conference,” Issa told DailyMail in an interview. com.

Jordan is locked in a battle for speaker with Steve Scalise, the number two Republican in the House of Representatives.

While both have drawn a handful of early supporters from the conference, they offer different appeals.

Jordan, a founding member of the right-wing House Freedom Caucus, has used his chairmanship of the House Judiciary Committee to investigate the Justice Department’s “weaponization” against Donald Trump. He will likely appease Kevin McCarthy’s most vocal opponents.

Even though Jordan was considered “too conservative” to move up the ranks just a few short terms in Congress ago, “he has become, if you will, a mainstream leader within the conference,” Issa told DailyMail in an interview. com.

Scalise, who is currently battling blood cancer, is already a member of the GOP leadership and knows how it works. He is seen as more conservative than McCarthy, but less so than Jordan, and is likely to maintain good relations with establishment and moderate Republicans.

But Issa, who works with Jordan on the judiciary, said the conference needs an outsider to bring back the eight Republicans who voted against McCarthy — and that Jordan has the “energy” for the job.

‘Whoever has the energy to do the fundraising, campaign for the different candidates and so on, that’s all part of it.

Issa has made phone calls on Jordan’s behalf, trying to build support for the chairman’s bid.

“One reason why McCarthy opponents clearly stated that they believe we should take a more principled course.”

‘Six or eight years ago people would have said he is too conservative. These days the question is who is the most conservative candidate they can get to 218.”

Issa also shot down the prospect of Donald Trump becoming speaker — suggesting his appearance at the House GOP speaker candidate forum would be a “campaign appearance for himself.”

Trump is expected to appear at the conference’s speaker debate on Tuesday, before the vote on Wednesday.

‘The president will be well received and the press will have a great time. But just what people are talking about, you know, because the president is the speaker, he has his hands full. His appearance becomes a campaign appearance for himself.”

“This isn’t about Trump supporters or Trump averse, this is about who can unite us. Because you know if it was just about Trump, Kevin McCarthy, who had been a very, very good Trump supporter, would still be there.”

A number of Republicans have floated the idea of ​​Trump as Speaker of the House of Representatives

Ohio Republican Rep. Max Miller, who worked in the Trump administration, suggested to CNN that the former president’s presence at the forum would not be “helpful.”

“I don’t know if that would be the most useful thing,” he said. “I certainly welcome the president’s presence. If you want to come to Capitol Hill, I’d love to see him. I’m a big fan of his. Furthermore, I think we need to work together as a conference to resolve this and choose a speaker.”

With only a four-vote majority, Republicans cannot afford to lose many votes at their conference — or risk minority leader Hakeem Jeffries becoming chairman with all the Democratic votes.

If Scalise were to become chairman, Whip Tom Emmer would want to ascend to majority leader and Deputy Whip Guy Reschenthaler would seek the whip’s job – a fact that Issa said sways the votes for the majority leader.

“Steve moving up creates job opportunities further down the chain, so a lot of people who support Steve are supporting someone else moving up.”