Former President Trump praised House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy’s record-breaking extended speech earlier in the month; this pushed Democrats to postpone final approval of their enormous spending measure.
He raised almost $400,000 from over 18,000 online donations in just a few days following his 8.5-hour floor address on Thursday, November 18, which was the longest in House history.
House Dem Adam Schiff says of McCarthy’s 8hr speech to Seth Myers: “It was torture. It was my first moron-a-thon and I kept thinking if this is the way he’s punishing Paul Gosar, why make the rest of us suffer.”
— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) November 24, 2021
McCarthy’s campaign stated on Tuesday he raised over $100,000 in the hours following his speech. It was also revealed the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) raised about $17 million during its annual fundraising event.
Praised by Trump
The contributions raised during the House GOP reelection arm’s fundraiser and the after-speech fundraising will help Republicans recover the House majority lost three years ago. McCarthy’s generous fundraising also should help him replace Democrat Rep. Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House.
McCarthy’s initial nine months of 2021 brought in $57.8 million, a Republican off-election year milestone. As noted by Fox News in October, NRCC leader Rep. Tom Emmer said, “Kevin McCarthy has indeed been the top fundraiser, not just for this campaign, but also the last cycle as well.”
McCarthy contributed $19.4m to the NRCC in the first nine months of the year, $2.3m to Republican state committees, and $8.3m to GOP incumbents in competitive races.
Kevin McCarthy is raising unprecedented amounts of money to regain the House. A GOP source told Fox News Republicans are determined to win big. McCarthy’s campaign said the House Republican leader would be the first to run national ads.
McCarthy accuses “one year of Democrat dominance in Washington” of causing shortages, hyperinflation, crime, confusion, conflict, and failure.
He was praised by the former president, who continues to play a kingmaker role in Republican politics and has hinted at a White House run in 2024.
The next day, President Trump stated great work was done by Kevin McCarthy last night, breaking a record by speaking for eight hours on the House floor. Trump supporter Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia attacked the House GOP leader late last week.
Greene remarked on a podcast hosted by Florida GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz that the league knows Kevin McCarthy has an issue. Greene said he lacks the full backing to be speaker.
McCarthy’s Speaker Prospects
Greene has a list of requests for McCarthy to become speaker: Reps. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois and Liz Cheney of Wyoming should be kicked out of the House Republican Conference.
Rep. John Katko of New York should be demoted from his ranking on the Homeland Security Panel for voting to impeach Trump and supporting the bipartisan infrastructure bill. Several far-right House Republicans have called for punishing the 13 GOP legislators who backed the infrastructure plan.
I just got off a good call with @GOPLeader.
We spent time talking about solving problems not only in the conference, but for our country.
I like what he has planned ahead.
— Marjorie Taylor Greene 🇺🇸 (@mtgreenee) November 27, 2021
Regardless, Greene’s initial critique reflected the growing discontent of some Trump supporters in Congress with McCarthy. That might hurt McCarthy’s chances of becoming speaker if Republicans retake the House during next year’s midterms.
The House Freedom Caucus, which denied McCarthy the party leadership in 2015, has around 40 members. Several House GOP moderates believe McCarthy is ignoring them, while others wonder if he is endorsing the party’s far-right radicals.
Investing extensively in 2022 is one method to reduce resistance to his speakership aspirations. Donating to party committees or supporting fellow Republicans’ races not only strengthens ties, but it also shows the rest of the caucus you value the Republican majority, said veteran GOP analyst Brian Walsh.
Walsh, a former House and Senate GOP spokesman, said McCarthy “built ties with many of them.”
