Former President Donald Trump weighed in on the ouster of Rep. Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House of Representatives in a Truth Social post asking why Republicans aren’t fighting “the radical left Democrats who are destroying our country?”
McCarthy was voted out of office on Tuesday in an extraordinary showdown – a first in US history, forced by a contingent of far-right conservatives, throwing the House of Representatives and its Republican leaders into chaos. The charge to impeach McCarthy was led by Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz.
“I’ve been talking to President Trump over the last few days,” Gaetz told reporters on the steps of the Capitol after the vote. “I would say my conversations with the former president give me great confidence that I’m doing the right thing.”
Trump has not publicly spoken on the vote to impeach McCarthy as the former commander-in-chief faced legal troubles after his civil fraud trial began this week in New York City.
Former President Donald Trump has not spoken on the ouster of Representative Kevin McCarthy as chairman
Rep. McCarthy, a Trump ally, has said he will not run for chairman again
The pair are believed to have a good relationship with the California congressman who has visited Trump at Mar-a-Lago since the former president left office.
That came shortly after McCarthy said Trump was responsible for January 6. Rep. Liz Cheney called McCarthy’s decision to be seen publicly with Trump “stunning” after the riot.
In January 2023, Trump was said to have been behind McCarthy’s rise to the speakership, which came only after a historic 15 rounds of voting.
McCarthy told lawmakers in the evening that he would not run for president again, leaving the gavel up for grabs.
The next steps are highly uncertain and there is no clear successor to lead the Republican majority in the House of Representatives. Action in the House of Representatives is on hold until next week, when Republicans try to elect a new speaker.
“I may have lost this vote today, but as I leave this chamber I feel fortunate to have served,” McCarthy said at a news conference at the Capitol, alternating between optimism about his speakership and angry denunciations of those who ousted him.
Still, he said, “I wouldn’t change a thing.”
Gaetz, considered McCarthy’s chief rival, organized the rare vote on the obscure “motion to vacate,” moving quickly to a dramatic afternoon roll call.
In January 2023, Trump was said to have been behind McCarthy’s rise to the speakership, which came only after a historic 15 rounds of voting.
Gaetz, considered McCarthy’s chief rival, organized the rare vote on the obscure “motion to vacate,” moving quickly to a dramatic afternoon roll call.
While McCarthy enjoyed the support of most Republicans in his narrow majority, eight Republican opponents — many of the same far-right holdouts who tried to prevent him from becoming chairman in January — effectively forced him out of the election.
Silence fell as the presiding officer closed the vote, 216-210, saying the office of speaker “is hereby declared vacant.”
Moments later, a leading McCarthy ally, Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., took the gavel and, under House rules, was appointed speaker pro tempore, to serve in the office until a new speaker was elected.
The House then quickly deteriorated as lawmakers met privately to discuss the path forward.
Trump’s former vice president and Republican nominee for the Oval Office in 2024, Mike Pence, rebuked those who voted out McCarthy.
Pence was on stage at a national security and foreign policy event at Georgetown University in Washington, co-hosted by The Associated Press, when the news broke.
When told about the historic vote, Pence waited several seconds before responding. He then described it as a distraction from the issues that matter to Americans.
“Let me say that chaos is never America’s friend. And it is never a friend to struggling American families,” he said. “And I am deeply disappointed that a handful of Republicans, along with all the Democrats in the House of Representatives, want to expel the Speaker of the House of Representatives.”
Pence faces an uphill battle for the nomination in a party that remains closely tied to his old boss.