Donald Trump voiced his unhappiness with the result of the latest ballot to decide who would be the Republican Party nominee for Speaker of the House.
As the lunch break drew to a close at his civil trial for fraud in New York, the former president posted on Truth Social, attacking Minnesota Rep Tom Emmer as a “Globalist RINO”.
In a brief lull in the chaos that has characterised the search for a new speaker, Mr Trump wrote: “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 continued: “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. I believe he has now learned his lesson, because he is saying that he is Pro-Trump all the way, but who can ever be sure? Has he only changed because that’s what it takes to win?”
The former president concluded: “The Republican Party cannot take that chance, because that’s not where the America First Voters are. Voting for a Globalist RINO like Tom Emmer would be a tragic mistake!”
There has now been no Speaker of the House for three weeks and Mr Emmer will likely struggle to turn those against him to “yes” votes before taking his nomination to a full vote on the floor of the House.
Mr Trump’s own pick, Ohio Rep Jim Jordan, failed to secure the number of votes needed on the floor of the House and then lost the party’s nomination in a closed-door secret ballot last week.
Perhaps the biggest objection that the former president would have concerning Mr Emmer is that he voted to certify the 2020 election results showing Joe Biden legitimately won the presidency.
Just yesterday Mr Trump said he was staying out of the speaker fight and that he had “always gotten on well” with Mr Emmer.
The former president’s remarks appeared to have the desired effect as an anti-Emmer movement coalesced, refusing to back him as speaker.
His nomination ended just four hours after it began.
