The answer became clear when he would not visit Trump in Florida on Thursday, as he often did when Trump was president. The meeting was initiated by McCarthy, a person familiar with the meeting, and is part of the effort to get back in favor of the former president.
McCarthy was in Florida on Wednesday, where he raised money as the House is out this week.
Two sources told CNN that some people had warned McCarthy not to go see Trump on Thursday. A source familiar with the matter said it made him look weak. Another source close to McCarthy told CNN that the Republican in California is being told that he would look like he was ‘crawling back to Trump’, and that this would further isolate him from main donors who want to leave Trump.
Despite political pressure from some in the GOP that Trump’s party should continue, McCarthy is watching what will win him back the House and possibly drop him to the roster. Sources told CNN he was eager to rejoin Trump after corporate donors – including American Express, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Commerce Bank, Dow and Marriott – suspended PAC donations to members of Congress who were opposed to it. to certify the election for Joe Biden. .
For McCarthy, the balance falls between the need to appeal to IDP donors and Trump’s base, which still represents a powerful force in the party and will have to turn out so that the IDP can win back the House in two years. Not to mention if McCarthy wants to act after the speaker in two years, he will have to hold on to the Trump wing of his own conference or take on a challenge. One of the strongest qualities of McCarthy as a leader for many years was his tendency to raise large sums of money for the conferences. His productive fundraising was highlighted on Wednesday by Tom Emmer, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, during a private IDP call.
The dropout in his conference led to questions about McCarthy’s leadership. As much as McCarthy can not afford to lose support from members of the Freedom Caucus, he also cannot lose the support of members in the leading districts that can help him win back the majority.
“We are in a terrible position, as a country and as a party,” a Republican assistant told CNN. “I think a lot of people are frustrated with Kevin because he’s in charge of the conference.”
McCarthy recently fell back on Trump’s role in the uprising, when he was criticized at his recent news conference for saying he did not believe Trump provoked the uprising if you listened to what he said during the protest. – after saying two weeks earlier that Trump bears responsibility.
When asked in an interview with Gray Television on Sunday whether he had changed his position on Trump’s role in the Capitol attack, he said, “No, I did not change that.”
“I thought the president had some responsibility when it came to the response. If you listen to what the president said during the protest, he said, ‘Demonstrate peacefully,'” he told Greta Van Susteren. .
McCarthy said he is aware that there is a divide in his party that he needs to address and that the conference plans to meet and speak freely.
“We may have differences of opinion, but I believe we will hold a conference next week to air the differences, unite individuals and continue to work for all Americans,” he said in an interview with Fox News last week. said. “This is the best approach we can take.”
This story and headline was updated Thursday with additional developments.
CNN’s Dana Bash, Jeff Zeleny, Michael Warren and Manu Raju contributed to this report.