Trump craves Cheney as he joins McCarthy

Trump craves Cheney as he joins McCarthy

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According to a source, Trump has repeatedly questioned his Republican allies about efforts to remove Cheney from his leadership position and put a primary candidate against her. He has also shown these allies a survey commissioned by his PAC Save America that aims to show that Cheney’s impeachment vote has damaged his position in Wyoming, even urging them to talk about the research on television.

Trump’s push comes as minority leader in the House, Kevin McCarthy, is working to strengthen his relationship with the former president, including a meeting with Trump at his Palm Beach resort, Mar-a-Lago, on Thursday . McCarthy and Trump discussed the mid-term elections in 2022, according to a reading provided by Save America. The statement states that Trump “agreed to work with leader McCarthy” to retake the House majority for the Republican Party.

McCarthy confirmed on Thursday that Trump “pledged to help Republicans elected to the House and Senate in 2022.”

But it is clear that Trump does not want Cheney to be part of that majority in the House. Cheney, the president of the House Republican Conference, was one of 10 Republicans to vote for Trump’s impeachment on January 13. Trump’s allies at the Republican Party conference are helping to punish Cheney.
Some in the pro-Trump Freedom Caucus are circulating a petition aimed at removing Cheney from his leadership position. A member of Freedom Caucus, Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida, was in Wyoming on Thursday to speak out against Cheney. Gaetz told hundreds of rally participants that he had spoken to Trump “yesterday” and publicly shared some of Trump’s material.

Donald Trump Jr called the rally and referred to the vote. “Liz Cheney’s good points there are only slightly worse than his father’s shooting skills,” said Trump Jr. The day before, the former president’s son tweeted his own criticisms of Cheney.

“It’s time to get that RINO out of the GOP leadership!” Trump Jr. wrote.

Cheney’s office did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.

McCarthy expressed his support for Cheney and warned his members against attacking his Republican colleagues who supported the impeachment, telling them this week to “stop this shit”. But he also said he had “concerns” about Cheney’s vote on impeachment and claimed he did not know her position “in advance”.
House Republicans who voted for impeachment face reaction at home in Trump's staying power test

“So I support her, but I think she has a lot of questions to answer at the conference,” McCarthy said in a Sunday interview with Gray TV.

The visit between Trump and McCarthy was a remarkable move for the California Republican, who on January 13 said in the House floor that Trump “bears responsibility” for the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol. McCarthy himself faces pressure from Republican donors and others in the party to distance himself from the former president after the January 6 attack.

A source close to him told CNN that McCarthy was warned against “crawling back to Trump”, while another source said he was informed that the trip to Florida would make him look weak.

But in reestablishing his relationship with Trump, McCarthy is considering what will bring him back to the House and possibly catapult him into the speaker. Sources told CNN that he is eager to realign himself with Trump after corporate donors – including American Express, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Commerce Bank, Dow and Marriott – suspended PAC donations to members of Congress who opposed certifying the election. for current President Joe Biden.

The Mar-a-Lago meeting on Thursday reflects the feeling among some Republicans in Washington that Trump remains a singular force within the party and that the former president is an electoral asset, even though Trump stepped down with the lowest approval rating for his presidency, according to a CNN poll earlier this month.

“President Trump’s popularity has never been stronger than today and his endorsement means more than any endorsement at any time,” says the group’s statement, which also released a photo of Trump and McCarthy smiling together in Mar-a-Lago.

CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, David Wright, Dana Bash and Daniella Diaz contributed to this report.

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