FLIP-FLOP

McCarthy walked back his comments from Tuesday morning, when he said he wasn’t sure if Trump was the GOP’s ‘strongest’ candidate.

But Then What Is Qevin Sure Of?

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday told CNBC that he was unsure whether Donald Trump was the GOP’s “strongest” presidential candidate going into 2024. Just hours later, he backtracked.

In an interview with Breitbart later that day, McCarthy claimed he didn’t mean for his earlier statement to be a knock on Trump.

“As usual, the media is attempting to drive a wedge between President Trump and House Republicans as our committees are holding Biden’s DOJ accountable for their two-tiered levels of justice,” McCarthy said. “The only reason Biden is using his weaponized federal government to go after President Trump is because he is Biden’s strongest political opponent, as polling continues to show.”

McCarthy said he’s encouraged by Trump’s polling—which has largely been unaffected by his recent federal indictment.

“Just look at the numbers this morning,” McCarthy continued, citing a Tuesday Morning Consult poll that has Trump leading Biden in a hypothetical 2024 election 44% to 41%. “Trump is stronger today than he was in 2016.”

The apparent about-face from McCarthy comes after he was questioned about Trump’s presidential odds against Biden by CNBC’s Joe Kernen Tuesday morning—to which McCarthy responded with a slew of hypothetical questions.

“Can he win that election? Yeah, he can. The question is, is he the strongest to win the election? I don’t know that answer,” McCarthy said. “But can somebody, can anybody beat Biden? Yeah, anybody can beat Biden. Can Biden beat other people? Yes, Biden can beat them. It’s on any given day.”

The House speaker’s remarks drew outrage among those aligned with Trump, currently the frontrunner in the crowded Republican primary field.

“I’ve been fielding calls on this since it happened,” one ally told CNN. “People are not happy. What was he thinking?”

McCarthy reportedly apologized personally to Trump for this -- but Politico's Playbook is reporting that "McCarthy’s damage control made things worse."

In fact, McCarthy's team made a massive mistake by trying to fundraise off the blunder, as he sent out an email asking for money with the headline, "Trump is the STRONGEST opponent to Biden!"

"Fundraising off of Trump’s name without permission is a huge no-no for the former president, whose team requires explicit approval for any campaign to use his name and likeness," Politico writes. "Trump’s team, we’re told, asked McCarthy’s last night to take down the fundraising pitch."

Adding to the drama, some Trump supporters are not happy that McCarthy has not yet given the former president his endorsement in the crowded 2024 Republican primary.

"“At what point is it okay for Kevin McCarthy not to endorse Trump?” one GOP campaign consultant told the publication. “Donald Trump has been very good to Kevin McCarthy.”

McCarthy blamed the media for trying to use his comments to divide the former president from his Republican congressional allies.

“As usual, the media is attempting to drive a wedge between President Trump and House Republicans as our committees are holding Biden’s DOJ accountable for their two-tiered levels of justice,” McCarthy told Breitbart.

“The only reason Biden is using his weaponized federal government to go after President Trump is because he is Biden’s strongest political opponent, as polling continues to show.”

The whole affair reiterates how weak and unfit McCarthy is as a political leader, wrote conservative commentator Charlie Sykes for The Bulwark on Thursday.

"Cue the furies of Mar-a-Lago and the absolutely inevitable, eminently predictable cave by the self-gelded speaker. Reports Politico’s Playbook: 'We’re told top aides to the former president and allies who know both men quickly traded messages asking, in short: What the f--k? Some called McCarthy a ‘moron,’ we’re told.'"

"Brave Sir Kevin responded by executing the by-now-familiar McCarthy Grovel," continued Sykes, noting that he swiftly told a Breitbart reporter, "Trump is stronger today than he was in 2016."

None of this is new — McCarthy previously told his colleagues he wanted Trump to resign in the immediate aftermath of January 6, only to quickly reverse course and vote against impeaching him.

"Unfortunately for McCarthy, Trump’s wrath is reportedly unassuaged, and McCarthy’s attempt to suck-up may actually have backfired," concluded Sykes. "But we’ve seen this movie before, haven’t we?"