Trump touts ‘cordial’ meeting with McCarthy in Florida

Former President Trump held a “good and cordial meeting” with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Thursday in Florida, the former president’s team said, amid simmering tensions within the Republican caucus over how to handle Trump’s place in the party.

“President Trump has agreed to work with Leader McCarthy on helping the Republican Party to become a majority in the House,” the president’s super PAC, “Save America,” said in a readout that included a photo of the two men.

“They worked very well together in the last election and picked up at least 15 seats when most predicted it would be the opposite. They will do so again, and the work has already started.”

McCarthy met with Trump in Palm Beach, where the former president has set up shop since leaving office.

The meeting with McCarthy came as the GOP leader struggles to keep his caucus happy in the aftermath of the mob attack that interrupted the certification of votes affirming President Biden’s electoral victory.

“A united conservative movement will strengthen the bonds of our citizens and uphold the freedoms our country was founded on,” McCarthy said in a statement following the meeting.

Ten Republicans later voted to impeach Trump for inciting violence that day, further stoking tensions within the party. Numerous House Republicans have called for Conference Chairwoman Liz Cheney (Wyo.) to be removed from leadership, and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), a staunch Trump ally, is set to campaign against her this week in her home state.

McCarthy, who voted to reject electors for Biden from Pennsylvania, said earlier this month that Trump bore some responsibility for the violence. In a private phone call, McCarthy told Trump left-wing protesters were not to blame for the violence, something the former president and some close allies have claimed.

McCarthy did not vote to impeach Trump earlier this month, but he did not actively urge members of his caucus to oppose the vote.

Trump has stewed over McCarthy’s comments and actions in the weeks since, and he is plotting with advisers about potentially backing primary challenges to disloyal Republicans.

The readout boasted that Trump’s popularity has “never been stronger than it is today” and that his endorsement is perhaps the most valuable ever. 

Polling since Trump left office has shown the ex-president is regaining some popularity with Republicans since the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, when an angry pro-Trump mob beat police officers in a disturbing scene that forced the evacuation of lawmakers and led to Trump’s impeachment by the House.

Yet Trump has not reached even a 50 percent approval rating in Gallup’s polling.

A Gallup poll conducted during Trump’s final two weeks in office showed just 34 percent of respondents approved of the then-president’s job performance, compared with 62 percent who disapproved.

A Morning Consult poll released Wednesday found 81 percent of GOP voters hold favorable views of Trump, up from 76 percent in mid-January. He regularly polled in the high 80 percent or low 90 percent range among Republicans during his first term.

Updated at 4:54 p.m.