'Mommy and daddy issues': Johnson works to sway Trump’s support of GOP rep Gaetz wants out

US Representative Matt Gaetz's (R-FL) successful campaign to oust former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) last fall resulted in much resentment towards the Florida lawmaker from fellow Republican House members. Gaetz's vision for the future of the party looks vastly different from his colleagues' — including House Speaker Mike Johnson ·(R-LA).

According to a Sunday, February 25 CNN report, "multiple GOP sources" say the Speaker recently petitioned former President Donald "Trump to back Republican Rep. Mike Bost (R-IL) against his MAGA-aligned primary foe, Darren Bailey, in the southern Illinois district – a sign of how the new speaker is leveraging his relationship with the former president as internal GOP primary battles threaten to reshape the makeup of Congress."

CNN reports, "As Republicans made the pitch on why they believed Bost – a loyal Trump supporter, committee chairman and five-term incumbent – deserved the backing of the former president, some hoped another message would effectively be delivered to Gaetz: That the House GOP would not be remade in his mold, a sign of the lingering bad blood more than four months after the Florida Republican led the unprecedented charge to oust Kevin McCarthy from the speakership."

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The news outlet also notes, "The party-wide push to protect Bost – which GOP sources say also included a Johnson-hosted fundraiser for Bost in his district in December – is not fueled by concerns over losing the ruby-red seat if a far-right candidate emerges victorious in the Republican primary. Instead, the calculation is more centered around the fact that Bost, a member of the center-right Main Street Caucus, is viewed as a leadership ally who tends to support the party’s agenda, according to lawmakers familiar with internal GOP dynamics – a far cry from the Gaetz wing of the party that is frequently at war with party leaders over tactics."

US Rep. Max Miller (R-OH) told CNN, "Seeing as how President Trump endorsed Mike Bost, Matt always finds himself on the wrong side of history. He wants more chaos. He has mommy and daddy issues to work out."

The Illinois GOP leader called the infighting "really sad," telling CNN, "I came into politics under the old Reagan rule – the 11th Commandment of no badmouthing Republicans. But there’s a whole pile of them now."

CNN reports, "Gaetz insisted that his campaign against Bost – the third time he has targeted a sitting Republican while serving in Congress – 'isn’t personal,' pointing instead to Bost’s past support for aiding Ukraine and calling him a member who is 'bought and paid for by the lobbyists and the special interests.'"

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The Sunshine State leader said, "I don’t fight those things out with my fists in some sort of strange brawl. I fight with my words, and that’s what I will be doing in Illinois."

CNN's full report is available at this link.