Kevin McCarthy says Trump ‘reiterated his support’ after failed speakership votes

Rep. Kevin McCarthy told reporters Tuesday night that former President Donald Trump still supports his bid for House speaker despite losing three straight votes Tuesday. 

The California Republican said he spoke to the 76-year-old former president on Tuesday, who earlier in the day refused to say whether he was still backing McCarthy.

“Trump has already reiterated his support; I talked to him tonight,” McCarthy told reporters Tuesday night after a closed-door meeting with allies, according to the Hill.

The House GOP leader responded “Oh yeah,” when asked if Trump wanted him to keep fighting for the speakership.

“He thinks it’s better that all the Republicans get together and solve this, it doesn’t look good for Republicans, but we want to be able to solve it where we’re stronger in the long run,” McCarthy added. “Where what we went through today in the end becomes a positive that we’re actually focused, united.”

“His perspective is he wants to see the Republicans united to be able to accomplish the exact things we said we’d do,” McCarthy said of Trump’s position on the race for speaker’s gavel.

NBC News on Tuesday if he still supported McCarthy to lead the House.

“I got everybody calling me wanting my support. But let’s see what happens and we’ll go — I got everybody calling, wanting my support,” the 76-year-old former president said. “That’s all I can say. But we’ll see what happens. We’ll see how it all works out.”

In December, Trump endorsed McCarthy’s speakership effort, telling Breitbart News that GOP lawmakers opposing McCarthy were playing a “very dangerous game.”

“Yeah, I support McCarthy,” Trump said last month. 

“Look, I think this: Kevin has worked very hard,” he added. “He is just — it’s been exhausting. If you think, he’s been all over. I think he deserves the shot. Hopefully he’s going to be very strong and going to be very good and he’s going to do what everybody wants.”

The former commander in chief said at the time that he worried of a possible “doomsday scenario” if opposition to McCarthy holds, such as a “worse” candidate taking the speaker’s gavel.

The House adjourned Tuesday evening after McCarthy failed to get the required number of votes to become House speaker on the first three ballots. 

Nineteen Republicans chose not to vote for McCarthy on the first two ballots and a 20th GOP lawmaker balked at voting for the Republican House leader on the third ballot. 

McCarthy could only stand to lose four Republican votes in his bid to replace former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). 

All 212 Democrats in the lower chamber supported Brooklyn and Queens Rep. Hakeem Jeffries on all three ballots.

A fourth round of voting is expected to take place around noon Wednesday.