Matt Gaetz says Trump backing McCarthy is ‘sad’ and will ‘not change’ his vote.

Dissidents of Kevin McCarthy are unfazed by former President Donald Trump’s warning that standing in the way of the California Republican’s bid would spell an “embarrassing defeat” for the GOP.

‘Sad!’ Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., told DailyMail.com that Trump is straining the House Speaker’s race.

“It doesn’t change my view of McCarthy or Trump or my vote,” he added.

Gaetz tweeted Monday that “supporting McCarthy is the worst personnel decision President Trump has ever made.”

In Monday’s first two ballots, 19 Republicans voted for a candidate other than GOP leader McCarthy for speaker. In the third round, 20 did, and they all rallied around Rep. Jim Jordan, himself a supporter of McCarthy.

He snapped at McCarthy ally Newt Gingrich, saying the former spokesman “don’t know what the hell he’s talking about.”

“I don’t have time to listen to fossils… to sit on Fox News.”

Trump seemed to waver about his support of McCarthy in an interview with NBC on Tuesday night, but his tune switched back to firm support after overnight talks.

Former President Donald Trump spoke out strongly in favor of Kevin McCarthy’s candidacy as speaker on Wednesday morning. He argued in a Truth Social post that Republicans “don’t turn a great triumph into a huge and embarrassing defeat.”

Comes after McCarthy failed three times on Tuesday to collect the votes his caucus needs to become the next Speaker of the House

“We had some really good talks last night and now it’s time for all of our AMAZING Republican House Representatives to VOTE FOR KEVIN, GET THE DEAL, TAKE THE WIN,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Wednesday morning.

“REPUBLICANS, DON’T TURN A MAJOR TRIUMPH INTO A HUGE & EMBARRASSING DEFEAT,” he continued in capital letters. “IT’S TIME TO CELEBRATE, YOU DESERVE IT.”

“Kevin McCarthy will do a good job, and maybe even a GREAT JOB – JUST WATCH IT!”

Trump told NBC of McCarthy ahead of the nightly talks: “I got everyone calling me and wanting my support. But let’s see what happens and we’ll go – I’ve called everyone who wants my support. That’s all I can say. But we’ll see what happens. We will see how everything develops.”

Trump on Truth Social asked Republicans to take their “fight” to Republican Senate Chairman Mitch McConnell and his wife Elaine Chao, the president’s former Secretary of Transportation.

He also apologized for supporting McConnell and helping him win another term in the 2020 election cycle.

“If Republicans want to fight, we should fight Mitch McConnell and his domineering, China-loving BOSS, I mean wife Coco Chow,” Trump wrote, including a racist nickname for his former cabinet official.

“The damage they have done to the Republican Party is incalculable,” the ex-president added. ‘Today he couldn’t be voted ‘Dog Catcher’ in Kentucky (unfortunately he only won because of my confirmation, up 21 points – SORRY!).’

McCarthy has already made concessions that some Republicans say go too far — including rolling back an eviction motion that only five members of Congress can call a House vote to oust the Speaker.

Donald Trump met with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy in Mar-a-Lago in late January 2021, just days after the former president left the White House

But the riotous McCarthy deflectors say the rule changes he’s conceded don’t go far enough — they want commitments to get certain laws on the ground, like the Texas GOP Boundary Plan, and essentially being able to do committee work for select a number of House Freedom Caucus members.

For some of them, the opposition is personal.

“If you’re going to drain the swamp, you can’t put the largest alligator in charge of the exercise. I’m a Florida guy and I know what I’m talking about,” Gaetz told reporters after a GOP conference meeting on Tuesday.

The House has not needed multiple votes to elect a Speaker in 100 years. Now they have gone through three votes with no progress and will begin a second day of voting on Wednesday at 12pm.