GOP Rep. Troy Nehls told reporters that he is unsure if House Majority Leader Scalise can get the votes on the floor to become speaker, noting that former President Donald Trump had endorsed Rep. Jim Jordan.
“Steve Scalise got 113 votes. That is a majority, but how are you going to convince the other 100-something of us that just say ‘Well now we’re going to vote for Steve Scalise,’” said Nehls. “I think Steve Scalise is a great guy, but he got 51% of the conference. So my point is this – if we’re going to take this vote to the floor, I hope you try to get everybody together and figure out how you’re going to get all the others to say ‘OK, Steve’s the guy.’”
Nehls added that his message to centrist members of their party, who did not see Trump’s endorsement of Jordan as a good thing, is “Get over yourself, because Donald Trump is the leader of our party, make no mistake.”
“Every decision we make as a conference should be in the best interest of getting Donald Trump, the leader of our party, who will be our nominee, into the White House in 2024,” he added.
Nehls did praise Scalise as a “great leader,” despite voting for Jordan in the conference.
“Steve Scalise is a great leader. He became the whip, the majority leader, he’s been here a long time, I think he’s a hell of a nice guy, I think he’s very, very effective, and I feel certain he’ll do a great job as speaker as well,” he said. “I have nothing against Steve Scalise. I was just more on the Jordan side. I’m more of a freedom caucus guy, and that’s who Donald Trump wanted.”
