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Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy says "you might see a much different Trump" after 2024 presidential election win

By
Kaia Hubbard
Politics Reporter
Kaia Hubbard is a politics reporter for CBS News Digital, based in Washington, D.C.
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Kaia Hubbard

/ CBS News

Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Wednesday morning that President-elect Donald Trump may be "different" in a second term, noting that he now knows the job and won't be seeking reelection. 

"So you might see a much different Trump," McCarthy said on "CBS Mornings" when asked about Trump's ability to unite the country as president.

Hours after Trump was projected to win the 2024 presidential race amid a starkly divided electorate, McCarthy urged Democrats that Trump "is not such a hardened person, philosophically, in a hard right position."

"He has positions that are unique, that would go to the middle," McCarthy continued. "People get a Trump syndrome where they just don't even want to work with him, and he'll get his back up, and then if you fight him, he'll fight you. But I think if you go to him, he's probably more willing to go to some certain positions."

McCarthy, a Republican who represented California in the House and was ousted from the speakership in 2023, dismissed concern expressed by officials who worked in Trump's first administration that the president-elect is unfit for office — or poses a threat.

"Remember, we're America. We don't have dictators," McCarthy said. "We have different branches of government. So we have a check and balance system."

McCarthy, who noted that he doesn't want a role in Trump's administration and is "better to serve him from the outside," said he was eager to see a presidential candidate win the popular vote and electoral college this year, arguing it would be better for the country.

"We've got to put this to rest, and we've got to be able to govern," McCarthy said. "That's what I think the country on both sides wants to see."

The former speaker encouraged Democrats to "take this opportunity to rebuild their party," which he said is just like "rebuilding a team." The first thing Democrats should do, he argued, is to look honestly at why Harris lost. 

McCarthy questioned whether it was the right decision for President Biden to leave the race. He said that although he doesn't think Mr. Biden would have ultimately won, the decision "changed democracy in a manner that you didn't give people a voice." He argued that Democrats likely wouldn't have picked Harris in an open primary process. 

"They probably would have had a stronger candidate," McCarthy said. 

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