Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy deployed a foul-mouthed Donald Trump to salvage his bid to remain in his leadership position at the beginning of 2023 as the “beleaguered” California Republican faced a revolt from his fractious caucus.
According to the New York Times, which obtained a copy of McCarthy aide John Leganski's book to be released next week, Trump unloaded on Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) with screaming expletives and demands after Biggs refused to budge from his anti-McCarthy stance.
"I'll never support you if you don't support Kevin!" Trump told Biggs bluntly, employing a stream of profanities to drive his point home.
According to the book, Biggs wasn't Trump's only target. The former president demanded to speak with Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ), another holdout and the sole first-term lawmaker refusing to back McCarthy. Trump claimed he had "saved" Crane's congressional bid and threatened swift retaliation.
"I'll find a challenger to him so fast his head will spin," Trump reportedly shouted at Crane—punctuating the threat with more expletives.
The intimidation campaign ultimately succeeded, the Times is reporting. After McCarthy failed to secure enough votes on his initial attempts on January 6, 2023, Trump's bullying forced the holdouts to capitulate. Biggs, Crane, and other members eventually voted "present" on the 15th ballot, allowing McCarthy to become Speaker with 216 votes.
The deep divisions Trump temporarily papered over would fester and metastasize. Just 269 days later, the same band of holdouts ousted McCarthy, plunging the House into chaos, the report notes.
Leganski, who listened to Trump's fury-filled calls on speakerphone, described the experience as surreal.
"It was incredibly intense for the holdouts. They could barely get a word in. It did not surprise me that the others began to duck our calls, because I would never want to be on the receiving end of that," Leganski said.
The intimidation was so effective that two additional holdouts—Reps. Matt Rosendale (R-MT) and Bob Good (R-VA)—simply dodged McCarthy's calls entirely once word spread that Trump was making the calls.
