Kevin McCarthy thinks 'kissing the ring' of Trump is his 'path to the speakership: CNN's John King

On CNN Thursday, election analyst John King discussed the significance of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) paying a visit to former President Donald Trump in Florida.

"The former president ... met with the minority leader Kevin McCarthy today down in Palm Beach," said anchor Wolf Blitzer. "[Trump] put out a statement afterwards ... saying his endorsement means more than, perhaps, any endorsement at any time. That's the former president of the United States talking about his own endorsement. What do you make of that?"

"Look, the former president likes himself. There's no surprise there," said King. "That's not breaking news. He thinks he's the most powerful president ever. Look, his political standing has been diminished significantly nationally. However, that picture tells you everything you need to know. Kevin McCarthy wants to be speaker. The Democrats have a very narrow majority in the House. Kevin McCarthy thinks kissing the ring and making this without a doubt the party of Trump going forward for the next two years is his path to the speakership."

"You see it in the conversation we were having about Marjorie Taylor Greene," continued King. "See it today in Matt Gaetz, rank and file Trumpy member, going to Wyoming, Liz Cheney's district, calling her corrupt saying she's part of an insider club in Washington, saying Mitch McConnell is in that club, too. A club he says is screwing the American people every day. So Kevin McCarthy does not have control over his own caucus now ... if you hear a Republican say we're trying to break from Donald Trump, turn down the volume, it's not a serious movement. It's his party, period."

Trump reportedly resents McCarthy for not backing him up on his election fraud conspiracy theories — even though he opposed the effort to impeach him, and even though he privately acknowledged his responsibility for the Capitol riots to the Republican leader.

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