Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) urged President-elect Trump to personally call House Republicans and urge them to back Speaker Mike Johnson’s bid to keep his gavel.
“I strongly encourage Donald Trump to get on the phone with those five or six members who won't commit to voting for Mike Johnson because all this is going to do is delay us,” Comer said in a Sunday interview on Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures.”
“It's going to delay the certification of President Trump's election. It's going to delay the start of his first 100 days in office, which is the most important time frame of his whole presidency,” he continued. “That's when you get the most done, historically.”
“So, I strongly encourage President Trump to get on the phone and try to get everyone united so we can work together as a team and make America great again,” Comer added in the interview, which was conducted before Trump publicly backed Johnson’s Speakership bid on Monday.
Comer said he was concerned that Friday’s Speakership vote could see a repeat of last year’s battle to replace former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who was ousted from his post after a few Republicans voted with Democrats to remove him as Speaker.
But Comer said he hopes Trump’s forthcoming term in office will incentivize Republicans to unite behind Johnson, who cannot afford to lose any more Republican votes. Johnson needs 218 votes to be elected Speaker, and there will be 219 Republicans voting.
Democrats have made clear they would not back Johnson’s bid, and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) has come out against Johnson for Speaker.
“We have seen it play out over the past two years. It was very difficult for Kevin McCarthy. It's been very difficult for Mike Johnson. It would be very difficult for whomever would be elected Speaker of our conference,” Comer said.
“At the end of the day, the difference between the 119th Congress and the 118th Congress is, we will have a Republican president, a strong Republican president who's very popular with Republican congressmen's constituents back home, and that's Donald Trump,” Comer added.
