#McCarthy questions whether Trump is ‘strongest’ Republican against Biden

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) questioned whether former President Trump is the strongest Republican candidate to run against President Biden in 2024, even as he expressed confidence that Trump could beat Biden.

“Can he win that election? Yeah, he can. The question is, is he the strongest to win the election? I don’t know that answer,” McCarthy said of Trump on CNBC Tuesday morning. “But can somebody, anybody beat Biden? Yeah, anybody can beat Biden. Can Biden beat other people? Yes, Biden can beat ‘em. It’s on any given day.”

CNBC Host Joe Kernan had mentioned Trump’s legal woes complicating his candidacy. Those include indictments over his handling of classified documents after he left office and a 2016 hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

But McCarthy had earlier expressed confidence in Trump defeating Biden if he is the GOP nominee.

“Can Trump beat Biden? Yeah, he can beat Biden,” McCarthy said on CNBC Tuesday morning.

“The Republicans get to select their nominee. If you want to go for sheer policy to policy, it’s not good for Republicans, it’s good for America. Trump’s policies are better, straightforward, than Biden’s policies,” McCarthy said.

McCarthy’s uncertainty about whether Trump is the strongest candidate is notable given how close the Speaker has remained to the former president. Though McCarthy said in the aftermath of the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, that Trump bore some responsibility for the attack, he visited Trump at Mar-a-Lago weeks later. Last week, McCarthy backed proposals to expunge Trump’s two impeachments.

But there is skepticism about Trump in McCarthy’s conference. A few members are outwardly critical of the former president in wake of the indictments, and others have endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).

McCarthy has not yet endorsed any candidate in the presidential race, but has previously said that he might.