by Sharon Rondeau
(Jan. 6, 2023) — In a brief post Friday morning, 45th President of the United States and 2024 Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump repeated a claim he made on his Truth Social account late Wednesday portending positive developments for the party in the wake of a contentious debate over who the next Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives will be.
Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA23) remains in the running for Speaker with an overwhelming majority of Republicans supporting him but with 20 others adamantly opposed to his assuming the gavel from the previous Speaker, Democrat Nancy Pelosi.
Those opposed to McCarthy’s candidacy are reported in the mainstream news as “rebels,” “holdouts” or “insurgents” and have been roundly criticized by many Republican figures such as former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer; former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich; Fox News host Sean Hannity; Marc Thiessen of The Washington Post, and various other commentators for allegedly seeking publicity for themselves rather than supporting McCarthy’s bid so that the House can begin its work in the 118th Congress.
House Democrats have capitalized on what appears to be Republicans’ disarray by cheering for their new leader, Hakeem Jeffries, who garnered more votes than McCarthy in 11 rounds of voting between Tuesday and Thursday.
On his show Thursday night, Hannity reported significant progress appeared to him to have been made as a result of his contact with several direct sources relating that McCarthy had signed an agreement to take action on numerous agenda items the 20 objectors wish to see addressed early on.