The House of Representatives Speaker race, for a few days at least, looked to be yet another GOP clown show as multiple sides within the party flexed and postured over who might be the next leader of the party in the lower chamber.
But as The Hill reported, all it essentially took to secure Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-LA) second stint as the gavel-holder was an endorsement from President-elect Donald Trump.
The results, which kept the gave in Speaker Johnson's hands, proved that Trump still has significant influence over the House GOP conference.
Unlike the last Speaker vote, which stretched out for an embarrassing amount of time, Johnson was able to clinch a victory in the first round of voting.
The president-elect reported made calls for Speaker Johnson and personally vouched for him as late as Friday morning, just hours before the vote was set to kick off.
Those personal phone calls and endorsements obviously worked exactly as intended, and not only was Johnson able to secure a win, but in reality, the big winner was Trump proving he can call the shots.
And he's not even in office yet.
Johnson had recently experienced a bad round of publicity within MAGA circles after he -- in the eyes of many -- botched the early versions of the spending bill, which turned into its own debacle.
The Hill noted:
Heading into Friday’s vote, questions loomed about Trump’s influence among GOP lawmakers after most in the conference — including Johnson — bucked his demand that Congress include a debt ceiling increase in government funding legislation last month, passing a bill that did not address the borrowing limit.
Several conservatives in the House GOP vowed to band together to prevent Johnson from winning the gavel once more. Clearly, Trump was able to tamp down that fire fairly easily.
As it would turn out, only three House Republicans voted against Johnson, showing that Trump's personal backing worked in the kingmaker-like way he's used to.
The Hill added:
And after last-minute phone conversations with Trump, two of the holdouts — Reps. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) and Keith Self (R-Texas) — switched their vote in favor of Johnson, giving the GOP leader just enough support needed to clinch the gavel.
Several members of the House Freedom Caucus who originally opposed Johnson's reelection to the leadership role wrote a letter after the vote saying they only backed Johnson, "despite our sincere reservations," because of their commitment to Trump.
Now, it's on Johnson to prove that Trump made the right call. Only time will tell.
