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UPDATE (Oct. 24, 2023, 4:36 p.m. ET): Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., dropped out of the Republican House speaker race on Tuesday, hours after winning his party’s nomination.
Two hours after House Majority Whip Tom Emmer secured the votes he needed to become the Republican conference’s speaker-designate, Donald Trump decided to weigh in on the developments. In fact, the former president published an unsubtle message to his social media platform, which read in part:
“I have many wonderful friends wanting to be Speaker of the House, and some are truly great Warriors. RINO Tom Emmer, who I do not know well, is not one of them. He never respected the Power of a Trump Endorsement, or the breadth and scope of MAGA—MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! He fought me all the way, and actually spent more time defending Ilhan Omar, than he did me—He is totally out-of-touch with Republican Voters.”
Trump’s missive concluded, “Voting for a Globalist RINO like Tom Emmer would be a tragic mistake!”
It’s worth noting for context that the former president published the message from a New York courthouse, in the midst of a difficult civil trial for the Trump Organization.
There are a handful of angles to this that are worth keeping in mind. The first is that it was just 24 hours ago when Trump, while in New Hampshire, told reporters that he intended to steer clear of the House GOP’s process of choosing a new speaker. “I’m sort of trying to stay out of that as much as possible,” he told reporters.
Evidently, the former president isn’t “sort of trying” very hard.
The second is that the timing of this public condemnation is especially brutal for the House majority whip. Emmer is facing a couple dozen intraparty opponents, whom he’s desperate to persuade, with the hopes of holding a floor vote before the end of the day. The fact that the party's national leader just condemned him in no uncertain terms will make his pitch vastly more difficult.
The third is that Emmer reached out to Trump directly ahead of the conference vote, making his case, and apparently telling the former president that he’s Trump’s “biggest fan.” Evidently, the lobbying didn’t have the intended effect.
Finally, none of this comes as too big of a surprise. Politico reported late last week that the former president “privately conveyed to allies” that he opposed Emmer, and it was only a matter of time before that opposition went from oblique to overt.
As for why, exactly, Trump has a problem with the Minnesota Republican, The Washington Post had a terrific report yesterday fleshing out the former president’s reasons, including the fact that Emmer voted to certify President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory; Emmer encouraged GOP candidates in 2022 to focus less on Trump and more on local issues; and, according to sources close to the former president, “Emmer has not defended Trump enough on his indictments.”
As of a couple of hours ago, Emmer’s odds of success weren’t great. They’re worse now.