McCarthy doubts the strength of Trump’s candidacy, then quickly backs down

Speaker Kevin McCarthy declared on Tuesday that Donald J. Trump was the “strongest political opponent” to President Biden, and hastened to make clear his loyalty to the former president just hours after suggesting in a televised interview that Mr. Trump may not be the best Republican presidential candidate positioned to triumph in the 2024 election.

The hasty attempt to ingratiate himself with Mr. Trump underscores Mr. McCarthy’s fear of alienating the former president as he struggles to hold together his troublesome House majority and mounting pressure from right-wing lawmakers who being loyal to Mr. Trump. And it reflected the precarious position of Mr. McCarthy, who has not supported Mr. Trump or any other candidate, as the GOP presidential primaries take shape.

His latest troubles began on Tuesday morning when Mr. McCarthy questioned during an interview with CNBC whether it would be good for the party to have Mr. Trump as a presidential candidate given his legal troubles.

“Can he win that election? Yes, he can win that election,” Mr. McCarthy said. “The question is whether he is the strongest to win the election; I don’t know that answer.”

The comment irked Mr Trump’s allies and prompted an urgent push by Mr McCarthy to reverse it. He reached out to Breitbart News, the right-wing news outlet, to offer an exclusive interview in which he said the former president was “stronger today than he was in 2016” and blamed the media for “attempting to drive a wedge between President Trump and House Republicans.”

“The only reason Biden is using his armed federal government to go after President Trump is because he is Biden’s strongest political opponent, as polls continue to show,” said Mr. McCarthy to Breitbart in remarks he later gave as a written statement.

Mr McCarthy also called Mr Trump on Tuesday, according to three people familiar with the exchange, two of whom characterized the conversation as an apology.

Immediate damage control reflected how dependent Mr. McCarthy kept from Mr. Trump as he faced criticism from his right wing, and how his alliance with the conservative media ecosystem has helped isolate him. In the past, Breitbart has conducted public campaigns against mainstream Republican leaders, including McCarthy’s predecessors John A. Boehner and Paul D. Ryan, who refused to bow to the will of the party’s far right.

But Mr. McCarthy has built a relationship with the website. Tuesday’s story highlighted McCarthy’s full-throated defense of Mr. Trump and accused the mainstream media of taking his comments out of context.

Mr. McCarthy has not officially endorsed Mr. Trump’s presidential campaign and has been advised not to do so by the likes of former Speaker of the House of Representatives Newt Gingrich, a frequent outside adviser.

Yet at critical turning points, his speakership depended on the support of Mr Trump, who could easily exacerbate tensions between Mr McCarthy and far-right lawmakers by encouraging them to defy his leadership. Mr. McCarthy has been careful not to let the light of day shine between him and the former president.

At key moments, in an effort to hold together his fragile majority, Mr. McCarthy has allowed the House to become Mr. Trump’s tool of vengeance and retaliation.

He insulted Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg even before Mr. Trump was officially indicted in New York on charges of covering up a $130,000 hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels. He also authorized three of his committee chairs to interfere in the criminal investigation and required the prosecution to provide communications, documents and testimony.

Mr. McCarthy has also been furious with the Justice Department for indicting Mr. Trump for his handling of classified documents. He said last week he supported a resolution calling for the two impeachments of Mr Trump to be struck.

Mr. McCarthy has a cordial, if not close, relationship with Mr. Trump, who he says helped him win the fraught race to win the speakership.

Tuesday’s metabolism was reminiscent of another, much more dramatic case when Mr. McCarthy hurriedly went to the papers about a possible rift between himself and Mr. Trump.

After going to the House after the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to say that Mr. Trump “bears responsibility” for the attack, Mr. McCarthy tried his relationship with the man who remained the most popular political leader, to recover. force on the right.

A little over a week after Mr. Trump left the White House, Mr. McCarthy, smiling, paid him a visit to Mar-a-Lago and presented what has remained a united front.