Trump says House Republicans running against Kevin McCarthy for speaker are playing ‘a dangerous game’

Donald Trump is warning some of his staunchest supporters in the House of Representatives that they are playing a “dangerous game” by defying GOP leader Kevin McCarthy’s bid for the Speaker’s gavel.

The former president is testing his influence again in the GOP’s factional disputes after he was criticized for picking weak Republican primary candidates in the midterm elections.

He has been less accommodating of his decision to chair the Republican National Committee amid a bitter fight to unseat current Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel in favor of someone more aligned with the MAGA faction.

Speaking to Breitbart on Friday, the former president said California Republican McCarthy “deserved a chance” to become speaker of the House after his party narrowly regained a majority in the chamber in the recent midterm elections.

But with only a slight advantage, McCarthy cannot afford to lose the votes of five Conservative members of his faction, who have signaled they are likely to reject him.

They are: Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona, Rep. Matt Rosendale of Montana, Rep. Bob Good of Virginia, and Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina.

“Now I’m friends with a lot of people who are against Kevin. I think almost every one of them is very leaning towards Trump and I’m leaning towards them,” Trump said.

“But I must tell you, and I have told you, that you are playing a very dangerous game.”

Donald Trump threw his support behind House GOP Chairman Kevin McCarthy’s bid for the speakership

McCarthy’s campaign for the speaker’s gavel is under threat from five Republican lawmakers

He claimed to have warned those five Republicans that without McCarthy as spokesman, they would be in a “worse situation.”

Among the most contentious demands by McCarthy’s critics is the reinstatement of a “motion to vacate the chair” that would allow Republicans to vote to vacate their current speaker at any time. Moderates in the party have raised concerns about its destabilizing effect on the House GOP.

Biggs has announced he is challenging McCarthy for the role after largely losing a similar battle within the Republican faction in November.

McCarthy only said on Friday that the five Republicans had “not changed” their position.

He has won Trump’s favor despite open criticism from some of the ex-president’s other supporters in Congress. McCarthy was the first high-profile Republican politician to meet with Trump after the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, which were widely credited with helping revitalize Trump’s political career.

“Look, I think this: Kevin worked very hard,” Trump told Brietbart.

‘If you think he’s been everywhere. I think he deserves the chance. Hopefully he will be very strong and very good and he will do what everyone wants.’

He was less forthcoming about his choice to head the national party, according to a follow-up excerpt of his interview released on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Trump has been less open about whether he would back RNC chair Ronna McDaniel or any of her challengers

McDaniel is being blamed by some senior members of her party for the GOP’s lackluster performance at halftime, along with criticism of how she spent party funds at the races.

One of her most promising contenders for the presidency is conservative lawyer Harmeet Dhillon.

Dhillon, himself an RNC member, heads the firm representing Trump against the Jan. 6 House Committee.

“I think they’re both good,” Trump said. ‘I like them both.’

He compared his neutrality to Britain’s late Queen Elizabeth II.

Trump recalled, “It’s like I asked Queen Elizabeth when we were together, ‘Which president did you like best?’ She said, “I liked them all.” “Which one did you like best?” “I liked them all. They are all great.” I said, “But didn’t you like Ronald Reagan best?” She said, ‘No, I liked them all. I liked Ronald Reagan a lot, but I liked them all.”

“Then I realized how smart she was,” he said. “I said, you know, that’s why she stayed there for 75 years.”