Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday added his name to the list of people congratulating newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who secured the gavel through a unanimous party-line vote, ending the weekslong impasse to pick a new speaker after the ouster earlier this month of Rep. Kevin McCarthy from the seat.
"Congratulations to Rep. Mike Johnson," Trump posted on his Truth Social page, shortly after the House vote. "He will be a GREAT "SPEAKER." MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"
Trump earlier Wednesday called on his fellow Republicans to vote for Johnson and end the leadership fight.
"My strong SUGGESTION is to go with the leading candidate, Mike Johnson, & GET IT DONE, FAST!" Trump wrote in a post.
Johnson's nomination came Tuesday, marking the fourth person to be nominated for the leadership seat. Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., was nominated earlier in the day but dropped his bid, leaving the candidacy open for Johnson.
Trump, though, said he would not make an endorsement in the speakership race after offering his congratulations to other candidates, including "Reps. Byron Donalds (Florida), Charles J. 'Chuck' Fleischmann (Tennessee), Mark Green (Tennessee), & Roger Williams (Texas), & the ultimate winner of yesterday's vote, by a significant margin, Mike Johnson (Louisiana)."
He said all of them had supported him "in both mind and spirit, from the very beginning of our GREAT 2016 Victory and commented that "In 2024, we will have an even bigger, & more important, WIN!"
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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