House Republicans are supposed to be huddling in Florida this week to talk about policy and messaging. Instead, once again, they’re having to discuss Donald Trump.
ORLANDO, Florida — They came to a sunny, secluded golf resort here to brainstorm about policy and campaign messaging and how to use their new majority.
Instead, House Republicans are, once again, spending a lot of time talking about Donald Trump.
At the annual House GOP issues retreat, Speaker Kevin McCarthy has faced a barrage of questions from reporters about Trump’s possible indictment over a hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels and the former president’s calls for mass protests if the Manhattan district attorney charges him.
Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and other GOP committee chairs on Monday fired off a letter to that same DA, Alvin Bragg, requesting he testify before Congress about what they called a “politically motivated” decision to prosecute Trump.
At a bilingual news conference titled, “Delivering on our Commitment to America,” Republican members touched on topics like border security and the economy before fielding questions on Trump. And rank-and-file GOP lawmakers walking through the sprawling resort could be overheard discussing the latest Trump controversy.
“It is what it is — hush money for a porn star. I mean, I couldn’t survive that,” joked Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Mike McCaul, R-Texas, during an interview with NBC News at the JW Marriott Orlando, Grande Lakes, 160 miles north of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.
“It looks a little political, but I think we’re all exhausted from the drama of Trump,” he added.
After seizing control of the House majority earlier this year, Republicans have had a bit of a reprieve from Trump. They’ve passed bills to reverse funding for the IRS; block D.C. legislation that reduced sentencing for some crimes; and roll back a Biden administration rule on environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing. Biden vetoed the ESG bill on Monday.
“Yes, we did win the majority … and we’re carrying out that promise,” McCarthy said.
But now, it seems, Republicans have fallen back into the same pattern they found themselves in during the four-year Trump presidency: trying to focus on important policy issues like China, the bank collapse and debt while dealing with the latest Trump controversy.
New York law enforcement agencies were preparing for a potential Trump indictment as soon as this week spurred Trump to lash out on his social media platform Truth Social, calling on supporters to “protest” and “take back the country!”
Pressed on those remarks, McCarthy and other Trump allies urged people not to protest or resort to violence. But the majority of Republicans here are rallying behind Trump, painting his potential prosecution as a political attack against the 2024 GOP frontrunner.
“DOJ wouldn’t take the case. The Federal district of New York didn’t take the case. [Former Manhattan DA] Cy Vance wouldn’t take the case. Bragg didn’t want to take the case, and then what changed? President Trump announces he’s running for president and shazam!” Jordan told reporters after he sent the letter seeking testimony from Bragg.
“We don’t think President Trump broke the law at all, but what concerns me is what they’re going to do based on what’s been reported,” Jordan added.
At a press conference about border security, he called Bragg’s investigation a “sham.”
At the bilingual English-Spanish news conference, Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., blasted Bragg as a “rogue, left-wing, radical prosecutor who, by the way, refuses to prosecute serious crimes in [New York] who now has decided for political reasons to go after a former president.”
“We’re used to seeing that in third-world countries,” said Diaz-Balart, whose family fled from Cuba decades ago.
But Diaz-Balart suggested that McCarthy — not Trump — is not the current leader of the Grand Old Party.
“I have great respect for the former president of the United States, but … I will tell you right now, the leader of the party is the speaker of the House, the highest-ranking elected, second in line to the presidency,” ” the Miami area congressman said.