Kevin McCarthy on Trump's candidacy: "Is he the strongest to win the election? I don't know that answer"

Kevin McCarthy dove into the topic of the Republican presidential primaries and particularly one of the hottest topics for voters: Who is the candidate most likely to win a general election? The spokesperson addressed this issue in an interview with CNBC and evaluated the declared candidates, currently 13 if we take into account the latest addition of William Hurd.

The possibility of defeating Joe Biden in November 2024 is one of the factors voters are considering, at least in the polls. So far Donald Trump is comfortably in the lead, although the other candidates are awaiting the August 23 debate to weaken his lead.

Joe Kernen, co-host of the program “Squawk Box,” where McCarthy appeared, mentioned that the former president’s legal problems could complicate his future candidacy and asked the guest about it. “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,” the Speaker replied.

“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,” he added.

The spokesman did not go much further into detail on the primaries and left the choice up to the voters before clarifying that Trump’s policies were very favorable for the country. “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, straight-forward, than Biden’s policies,” he said.

The former president was instrumental in McCarthy getting the Speaker’s gavel after 15 votes, even going so far as to talk on the phone with lawmakers in the House to convince them. However, McCarthy has not yet officially endorsed any candidate for the primaries, although he did not rule out that he might do so.

Requirements to enter the RNC debate

For starters, the presidential candidates must commit to supporting the eventual Republican nominee, something Trump doesn’t look favorably upon. In addition, the candidates must have donations from at least 40,000 domestic taxpayers. The candidate must consistently obtain more than 1% in three national polls or two national polls and one state while having “at least 200 unique donors per state or territory in more than 20 states and/or territories. Finally, they may not participate in any external discussions.

The deadline to comply with the requirements will be August 21, just 48 hours before the debate. Only polls after June 1 will be considered valid to meet the requirements.