After Waging War Against MAGA, Kevin McCarthy Now Wants MAGA Votes for Speakership

GOP House leader Kevin McCarthy worked to oust the MAGA movement in Congress but now he wants their votes for speakership.

A week ago, we learned that McCarthy was using funds from FTX to take out GOP Representative Madison Cawthorn, who was a fan of President Trump and the MAGA movement.

The National File originally reported this.

The Washington Post reported:

Top allies of Kevin McCarthy, the House Republican leader, worked this spring to deny Cawthorn a second term in office, after the Donald Trump-endorsed lawmaker made controversial comments about cocaine use and sex parties in Washington that led McCarthy to announce he had “lost my trust,” according to multiple Republicans briefed on the effort, which has not been previously reported.

GOP lobbyist Jeff Miller, one of McCarthy’s closest friends and biggest fundraisers, and Brian O. Walsh, a Republican strategist who works for multiple McCarthy-backed groups, were both involved in an independent effort to oppose Cawthorn as part of a broader project to create a more functioning GOP caucus next year, said the Republicans, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.

Targeting Cawthorn was part of a larger behind-the-scenes effort by top GOP donors and senior strategists to purge the influence of Republican factions that seek disruption and grandstanding, often at the expense of their GOP colleagues. The political machine around McCarthy has spent millions of dollars this year in a sometimes secretive effort to systematically weed out GOP candidates who could either cause McCarthy trouble if he becomes House speaker or jeopardize GOP victories in districts where a more moderate candidate might have a better chance at winning.

The allies close to McCarthy have sometimes taken steps to conceal their efforts, as they did in the Cawthorn case, with money passing from top GOP donors through organizations that do not disclose their donors or have limited public records, federal disclosures show…

…In the weeks before his primary, a group called Results for N.C. spent $1.7 million to defeat him and support his opponent. The National Association of Realtors, which gave $600,000 to CLF, gave $300,000 to the cause. A nonprofit that does not disclose its donors, Americans for a Balanced Budget, gave $830,000.

Most of the rest of the money, $700,000, came from Ryan Salame, an executive at crypto currency exchange FTX U.S., a major donor both to McCarthy’s own operation and to other groups backing McCarthy’s favored candidates. West Realm Shires Services, the corporate name used by FTX U.S., gave $750,000 to CLF in August. Advisers to Salame and FTX declined to comment.

Cawthorn wasn’t the only MAGA candidate that McCarthy worked against. He went after many more.

Joe Kent, Carl Paladino, Christian Collins, Karoline Leavitt, Laura Loomer, Greg Giglio, and JR Majewski were all targeted by Kevin McCarthy.

Attorney Anthony Sabatini in Florida was also one of the MAGA candidates that McCarthy worked against in the primary. According to Sabatini, McCarthy may have overplayed his hand.

From Sabatini:

McConnell’s sabotage of his own side in the Senate races won’t come as a surprise to most Republicans, but many are unaware that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy used similar tactics in several House races during the same period. McCarthy’s behavior is even worse than McConnell’s in light of the extremely underwhelming House election results. Although observers expected a “red wave” that would yield a strong Republican majority in the House, Republicans are likely to have just a five-vote advantage in the end.

According to The Washington Post, the political machine around McCarthy directed millions to be spent against Republican candidates in GOP primaries associated with the America First movement. Yes, you read that correctly. McCarthy surrogates, including Amazon lobbyist Jeff Miller, directed four political action committees to attack key candidates to McCarthy’s right in primary elections around the country.

Here are just a few examples: $1.7 million against Freedom Caucus member Madison Cawthorn in NC-11; $2 million in WA-3 against Joe Kent, and $2 million to prop up Kent’s primary opponent; $1.5 million spent against Carl Paladino in NY-23; $1 million against Christian Collins in TX-8; at least $1 million against Karoline Leavitt in NH-1; various amounts against J. R. Majewski in OH-9 and David Giglio in CA-13; and finally, $1.5 million against me in FL-7, a safe Republican seat, where McCarthy surrogates ran false and negative ads through “American Liberty Action PAC,” one of the four McCarthy attack PACs controlled by his surrogates. The list goes on.

It is remarkable that McCarthy’s main focus was not always on defeating Democrats, but to safeguard himself against challenges to his leadership within the GOP from incoming America First candidates. It is hard to escape the conclusion that, had these resources been spent on helping instead of undermining anti-establishment Republican candidates, the GOP would have won a stronger hold over the House.

McCarthy—like McConnell—cares more about being surrounded by Republican colleagues aligned with the establishment than winning elections for Republicans. His actions show he would rather his side lose than reflect the popular will by letting in new-right Republicans who think differently than he does about immigration, trade, war, and the managerial state.

McCarthy has emerged as worse than a mere establishment stooge: he has effectively declared war on the America First movement and has proven willing to use party resources to fight against new candidates. But he may have overplayed his hand. With the House Speaker vote just around the corner in January, McCarthy is in a precarious position as a backlash to his leadership mounts.

What America needs is a strong and courageous House Leader who will deal with the crime and corruption within the DOJ and the FBI and with those in America who are trying to destroy this great country.

Kevin McCarthy does not have what it takes to be Speaker of the House.