McCarthy questions whether Trump is ‘strongest’ Republican in 2024

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy expressed doubt Tuesday about whether Donald Trump is the best bet for the GOP to regain the White House next year.

“Can he win that election? Yeah he can,” McCarthy (R-Calif.) told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” morning show. “The question is, is he the strongest to win the election? I don’t know that answer.”

“But can anyone beat Biden? Yeah, anybody can beat Biden,” the speaker went on. “Can Biden beat other people? Yes, Biden can beat them. It’s on any given day.”

McCarthy tried to walk back his remarks later Tuesday, throwing in a shot at the media as he did so.

 “As usual, the media is attempting to drive a wedge between President Trump and House Republicans as our committees are holding Biden’s DOJ accountable for their two-tiered levels of justice,” McCarthy told Breitbart. 

“Just look at the numbers this morning — Trump is stronger today than he was in 2016,” the speaker added.

Trump has been widely pegged as the GOP front-runner and leads his nearest competitor, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, by 30.6 percentage points in the RealClearPolitics national polling average.

The same outlet shows Trump, 77, narrowly leading the 80-year-old Biden in the 2024 popular vote, 43.8% to 43.6%.

The initial comments amounted to a rare waver by McCarthy in his backing of Trump. On Friday, the speaker came out in support of a move among House Republicans to expunge both of the 45th president’s impeachments.

“I think it is appropriate,” McCarthy said at the time. “Just as I thought before — that you should expunge it, because it never should have gone through.”

On Tuesday, CNBC co-host Joe Kernen pointed out Trump’s mounting legal troubles, including a 34-count indictment out of Manhattan and a 37-count federal indictment for allegedly hoarding sensitive national security documents.

“It makes it complicated. It also helps him,” McCarthy replied, alluding to Trump’s strong polling in the GOP primary despite the indictments.

The speaker added that if Trump is the GOP nominee for a third consecutive cycle, “sheer policy to policy, it’s not good for Republicans — it’s good for America. Trump’s policies are better, straightforward, than Biden’s.”

McCarthy has declined to make an endorsement in the 2024 primary race.

Trump, on the other hand, backed McCarthy’s speakership bid in January, calling on rebel Republicans to rally behind the Californian.

Still the speaker has routinely lavished praise on the former president and backed him publicly during his various legal tribulations.

“Today is indeed a dark day for the United States of America. It is unconscionable for a President to indict the leading candidate opposing him,” McCarthy tweeted after Trump announced June 8 he had been indicted in the classified documents case.

A Trump campaign spokesman did not immediately return a request for comment.