by Tom Emmer's public show of gratitude to Donald Trump for endorsing his bid for Speaker of the House of Representatives has not aged well, after the former speaker bragged online that it effectively “killed” his chances of winning the coveted post.
The GOP congressman won his party's nomination early Tuesday, but immediately faced staunch opposition from some right-wing members of the House Republican conference. He withdrew from the race four hours later.
It came just over 24 hours after she defamedly posted online thanking Trump for an apparent endorsement. Trump was asked on Monday whether he would support Mr Emmer for Speaker of the House, even though the latter was not always “his biggest fan”.
“He's my biggest fan now because he called me yesterday and said, ‘I'm your biggest fan,'” Trump replied, adding, “We're looking at a lot of people and I'm trying to stay out of it. as much as possible.
“I always got along with him, I got along with all of them. [There’s] many good people.”
In his post on Monday, Mr Emmer wrote: “Thank you Mr President. If my colleagues elect me Speaker of the House, I look forward to continuing our strong partnership.”
On Tuesday afternoon, it became clear that Mr Emmer would not be able to muster the required 217 votes to take the presidency, forcing him to withdraw from the race.
Donald Trump posted a link to a story saying he's ‘killing' Tom Emmer's speaker chances
(Truth Social)
Shortly thereafter, Mr. Trump posted a link to one of his articles Politicotitled “‘I Killed Him': How Trump Torpedoed Tom Emmer's Speakership Bid.”
The article described how, according to Trump Campaign sources, the former president did not like Mr. Emmer's claims that the two were close political allies. After Mr Emmer won the nomination, he had expressed his distaste for his bid.
Tom Emmer's chances have been blown out of the water by the man he thought he had won
(AP)
“It has finished. It is done. I killed him,” Mr Trump told an ally on Tuesday afternoon, according to reports Politico.
Trump had criticized Emmer on Truth Social and said voting for him would be a “tragic mistake.”
He wrote: “I have a lot of great friends who want to be Speaker of the House, and some are really great Warriors. RINO Tom Emmer, who I don't 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!”.
“I think he's learned his lesson now, because he says he's pro-Trump all the way, but who can be sure? Has it only changed because that's what it takes to win? The Republican Party cannot take advantage of this opportunity, because America's first voters are not there. Voting for a globalized RINO like Tom Emmer would be a tragic mistake!”
