Ex-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy Congratulates Mike Johnson On Win, But Completely Credits ‘Unifier’ Trump: ‘He Made the Difference Here’

 

Kevin McCarthy credited President-elect Donald Trump with House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) victory on Friday, calling the incoming president the great “unifier” for Republicans.

Johnson’s Speaker vote had the potential to become chaotic with frictions with some Republicans and a slim majority in the House, but Johnson was ultimately elected House Speaker after one round of voting. The case was very different from McCarthy in 2023 when it took 15 rounds to get him confirmed as House Speaker. McCarthy ultimately left Congress at the end of that year.

McCarthy joined Guy Benson on Fox & Friends on Saturday and said he was with Trump on Friday when the president-elect made some calls on behalf of Johnson. Trump offered Johnson his “complete & total endorsement” ahead of the Speaker vote.

“Congratulations first to Speaker Johnson. Well done, but I think having such a big election — real congratulations to President Trump. I was with him last night, he made the difference here. He united a conference that is tough to keep together,” McCarthy said.

The former House Speaker recalled that his most “productive” time in Congress was after the messy Speaker votes and he urged Republicans to build on their momentum and continue rallying behind Trump and his agenda rather than focusing on “themselves.”

“Nobody can have a disagreement if we want to get this agenda through and the American people have spoken loud and clear, and I think President Trump is the unifier,” McCarthy said. “Members have got to stop focusing on themselves and look to the policy.”

Watch above via Fox News.

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Zachary Leeman covered pop culture and politics at outlets such as Breitbart, LifeZette, BizPac Review, HollywoodinToto, and others. He is the author of the novel Nigh. He joined Mediaite in 2022.