House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) expressed doubt as to whether former President Donald Trump is the strongest candidate for the Republican Party in the 2024 election during a television interview on Tuesday morning.
McCarthy was asked if Trump would be able to win in a general election against President Joe Biden, and while the House speaker stated that Trump could beat Biden, he also added he did not "know that answer" on if Trump is the best candidate. The comments came in an interview he did on CNBC's Squawk Box.
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"Can he win that election?" McCarthy said. "Yeah, he can. … The question is, is he the strongest to win the election? I don't know that answer. But can anybody beat Biden? Yeah, anybody can beat Biden. Can Biden beat other people? Yes, Biden can beat them. It's on any given day."
McCarthy was also asked during the interview if Trump winning the 2024 Republican primary election would be good for the Republican Party. The House speaker said it would be good not only for the party but "good for America." He also added Trump's policies are superior to Biden's and that the recent legal troubles Trump is going through "helps him win."
Trump announced he was running for president in November last year and has since been hit with several legal road bumps, including being charged with 37 counts over keeping classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago residence after he left the White House.
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The former president is competing for the Republican nomination against Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), former Vice President Mike Pence, and others. Despite legal woes and a growing number of opponents in the primary race, Trump is far ahead of his biggest opponent, DeSantis, by 38 percentage points, according to a recent poll.
Biden announced earlier this year that he plans to run for reelection in 2024. When asked by a reporter if his reelection campaign would be "nasty," Biden said with a laugh that it would depend "on who the nominee is."