Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday
Image: AP
McCarthy’s supporters refused to vote. Now former US President Trump is calling on them to vote for McCarthy as “speaker”.
Dhe former US President Donald Trump has called on all Republicans in the House of Representatives in Washington to elect the candidate Kevin McCarthy as the new chairman of the Congress Chamber.
Trump launched the appeal to online media on Wednesday after McCarthy failed to obtain the required simple majority in three rounds of voting the previous day, even though his conservative Republicans hold a majority in the House of Representatives. “VOTE FOR KEVIN, CLOSE THE DEAL,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social network.
A number of far-right Trump supporters in the Republican faction have refused to support McCarthy because they see him as too moderate. In the first two rounds of voting, 19 Republicans refused to support McCarthy, and in the third even twenty Republicans. Because of the narrow Republican majority, it shouldn’t be more than four for a win.
At 6 p.m. Wednesday, McCarthy will try again to succeed Democrat Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House.
