Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., called on McCarthy to withdraw from the race and criticized what she described as the “campaign smears and tactics” to get people to turn against her group. She also rebuked former President Donald Trump as “having my favorite president call us and tell us we need to knock this off.”
“I think it actually needs to be reversed,” she added. “The president needs to tell Kevin McCarthy that, sir, you do not have the votes and it’s time to withdraw.”
Trump threw his support behind McCarthy’s Speakership bid in November, but the endorsement came into question on Tuesday after the California Republican failed to secure the gavel following three ballots. In a phone conversation with NBC News, the ex-president would not say if he was still supportive of McCarthy when asked, telling the network “we’ll see what happens.”
