House Republicans voted 113 to 99 on Wednesday to nominate GOP Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana to serve as chairman over Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan.
But will he get the 217 votes needed to secure the gavel? It’s not certain because he could only lose four Republican votes.
The House met briefly Thursday but adjourned shortly thereafter because the Louisiana Republican still failed to gain enough support to be elected by the full chamber.
A handful of members are still pro-Jordan, some remain undecided, and others have issues with Scalise’s appropriations plan, among other issues.
But former President Trump, who endorsed Jordan for House speaker, revealed on Thursday what his main concerns are with Scalise.
The Republican is currently undergoing treatment for blood cancer, which the 45th president told Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade is a very “serious” condition.
Brian Kilmeade: So the speaker, the speakers cast their vote behind closed doors, and it looks like Steve Scalise will get it, if he gets the majority of the vote, when they bring the issue out thunderous, that will end it. Jim Jordan, your reaction because I know you supported Jim Jordan.
Donald Trump: Well, I like Steve. I like both of them very much. But the problem is that Steve is a man who is in solemn trouble due to cancer. I mean, he needs to get better for himself. I’m not even talking about the country now. I say I need to improve. And that’s huge stress. All these things that you hear about and, you know, things that you don’t want to get involved in from an acquisition standpoint. Well, Steve is undergoing very, very solemn cancer treatment. And of course, years ago, he had this terrible attack and, you know, it was amazing that he came back. I went to the hospital. I was with him the night it happened. I was literally right there with him, holding his hand. I was there the night it happened that the doctors gave him probably a 10% chance he would survive. But there are huge side effects. But he has a very solemn form of cancer. And you know, most importantly, I want Steve to get better, I just don’t know how you can do this job when this happens. This is a solemn problem. (Fox News Radio)
Trump then expressed concern that treating Scalise would drain his strength at a time when “tremendous strength” is needed “both internally and externally because we have the radical left, the lunatics… who are so bad for our country.” And ‘I have to fight them, and they have to fight the outside world.’
When Kilmeade pressed Trump on whether that was the only reason he supported Jordan, he said he liked both men and knew it would be a challenge for either man to get the required number of votes.
“And then you get into one of these crazy impasses,” he added. “This is… a very interesting situation.”
