GOP leader sweet on U.S. president
How McCarthy secured his place as Trump’s fixer, candy provider and BFF
U.S. President Donald Trump and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy were alone in the presidential suite on Air Force One, flying east toward Washington in early October, when the president reached for a handful of Starbursts, the fruitflavoured, box-shaped chewy candies.
But instead of unwrapping all of the treats, the president was careful to pluck out and eat two particular flavours: cherry and strawberry, McCarthy noticed.
“We’re there, having a little dessert, and he offers me some,” McCarthy recalled in an interview. “Just the red and the pink. A bit later, a couple of his aides saw me with those colours and told me, ‘Those are the president’s favourites.’ ”
Days later, the No. 2 Republican in the House — known for his relentless cultivation of political alliances — bought a plentiful supply of Starbursts and asked a staffer to sort through the pile, placing only those two flavours in a jar. McCarthy made sure his name was on the side of the gift, which was delivered to a grinning Trump, according to a White House official.
McCarthy’s overture — a Washington version of rock band Van Halen’s infamous 1982 request for backstage bowls of M&M’s purged of brown candies — illustrates the lengths many top congressional Republicans have gone to build a rapport with Trump.
The move also underscored McCarthy’s singular role as Trump’s friend and fixer over the past year — a courtship of backslapping and flattery that has led to eye-rolling among Democrats and skeptical Republicans.
From talks about the midterm elections at Camp David to a strategic interjection at a bipartisan immigration meeting, McCarthy, 52, has sought to position himself as Trump’s indispensable man in Congress, an easygoing Republican who gets him — and likes him.
Trump has showcased the relationship and appears to enjoy the fidelity of a high-ranking GOP leader. Before having dinner together Sunday at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Fla., Trump took questions from reporters under the club portico’s ornate arches, with McCarthy standing beside him. McCarthy — who was in the Oval Office Thursday when Trump used a vulgarity to disparage immigrants — stood stone-faced and quiet as the president declared that he is “not a racist” and asserted that those comments weren’t made.
McCarthy is aggressive but hardly alone in his embrace. Many Republicans once thought of Trump as a crude intruder but have since developed relationships with the president.
Last Tuesday at the White House, for example, Trump seemed to wander close to agreeing to an immigration deal with Democrats, without any caveats, to protect thousands of young undocumented immigrants known as “dreamers” from deportation.
McCarthy jumped in quickly to head things off: “Mr. President, you need to be clear, though . . . You have to have security,” he said, prompting Trump to retreat.
McCarthy’s ability to leap in without provoking Trump’s ire visibly relieved Republicans in the room. Sometimes, what McCarthy doesn’t say is also helpful to the president. He has generally not criticized Trump — not just in Florida on Sunday night but ever since Trump referred to “s---hole countries” in the Oval Office meeting Thursday.
While Trump has frustrated many Republicans who dislike his erratic tweets and rapid policy shifts, Mc- Carthy has told colleagues the president is not going to change and that it’s best to accept him for who he is.
Critics of McCarthy privately grouse that he is an operator who is most concerned with improving his standing in the House by aligning himself with the Republican base’s standard-bearer. There are worries, too, that McCarthy’s ingratiation could enable Trump rather than contain him.
Associates of both men explain the pair’s bond as the outgrowth of latenight phone calls they had near the end of the 2016 presidential campaign. When other Republicans were publicly criticizing Trump or wary of forging any kind of relationship with him, McCarthy would call Trump to update him on the latest tidbits from Congress and offer advice about the political map. Trump began to refer to him as “my Kevin,” a person he could trust.
McCarthy insisted that his feelings are genuine, not driven by ambition or the transactional nature of politics.
McCarthy’s overture illustrates the lengths many top congressional Republicans have gone to build a rapport with Trump