McCarthy GOP foes are using his flailing Speakership bid to haul in donations

On Thursday, Axios reported that Republican lawmakers who have blocked GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) from being elected Speaker of the House are now leveraging the situation to fundraise.

"Rep. Matt Gaetz's (R-Fla.) campaign asked potential donors to 'support our fight with critical reinforcements' and in one email dubbed McCarthy 'Kiev Kevin,'" reported Lachlan Markay. "Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) asked donors 'to turbocharge our emergency efforts to break the Establishment.' His campaign emails link to a payment processing page that claims 'every dollar helps secure the Speaker position.' An email from Rep. Bob Good's (R-Va.) campaign Thursday claimed that McCarthy 'spent millions of dollars trying to defeat conservatives in Republican primaries' and closed with a donation plea."

"It's common for campaigns to peg fundraising appeals to high-salience issues. But these emails are already fueling criticism from McCarthy backers who say they reek of opportunism," said the report. "'Just got a fundraising email from [Colorado Rep.] Lauren Boebert,' tweeted former Trump budget director and House Freedom Caucus member Mick Mulvaney on Thursday. 'Which I assume is what a lot of her NeverKevin stuff is all about.'"

According to the report, even some outside groups are fundraising off the chaos. Ultra MAGA PAC, run by former Trump associate Corey Lewandowski, called for McCarthy's ouster in an email, saying that he "stopped the Red Wave single-handedly by weighing in on primaries against good MAGA candidates." Democrats have joined the fundraising fight too, with donation emails bearing the name of newly elected Democratic House Leader Hakeem Jeffries proclaiming "Republicans have fallen into complete chaos."

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McCarthy is the first party leader since 1923 to be blocked on the first ballot from becoming Speaker, and the first since the 1800s to require more than nine ballots.

As of press time, it is unclear whether he will ever get the votes to become Speaker, or whether a different candidate will have to be put forward by Republicans or a bipartisan group. Early reports this evening indicated a "deal" among some of the more than 20 representatives blocking McCarthy, but this deal reportedly still does not get McCarthy to the required 218 votes.