To put it mildly, Donald Trump and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer have not always seen eye to eye. But as Axios reported, the presumptive GOP nominee and the Minnesota congressman have apparently buried the hatchet.
Former President Trump on Wednesday attended a fundraiser hosted by House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Min.) at Mar-a-Lago, mending a longtime rift between the two, Axios has learned. … Trump showed up and spoke at the event, multiple sources told Axios, which raised over $300,000 for Emmer’s fundraising committee.
The report, which has not been independently verified by MSNBC or NBC News, added that the event at Trump’s glorified country club helped put Emmer “back in the former president’s good graces.”
This might’ve seemed implausible five months ago, when the House leader secured the votes he needed to become the Republican conference’s speaker-designate. Two hours after Emmer’s intra-party victory, Trump issued a public condemnation of the congressman, labeling the Minnesotan “a Globalist RINO” who was “totally out-of-touch with Republican Voters.”
Emmer had reached out to Trump directly ahead of the conference vote, making his case, and apparently telling the former president that he’s Trump’s “biggest fan.” The lobbying didn’t have the intended effect: Trump trashed the GOP congressman anyway — in large part because Emmer did not vote to overturn the 2020 election.
A mere four hours after Emmer became the speaker-designate, he was the former speaker-designate. It was an unprecedented turn of events.
As the dust settled, Trump gloated about having taken Emmer down. “He’s done. It’s over,” the former president reportedly said in reference to the House majority whip. “I killed him.”
Why it matters: The outing from Trump puts Emmer back in the former president’s good graces, months after Trump came out against Emmer’s campaign to be House speaker.
Common sense might suggest that the Minnesotan would hold a grudge. After all, Trump effectively set fire to his bid for House speaker without cause.
And yet, Emmer endorsed Trump, held an event at a Trump-owned property, and reportedly even agreed to serve as the Minnesota state chairman of Trump’s 2024 campaign.
Why, pray tell, would Emmer go to such lengths to align himself with a man who undermined his career and publicly condemned him? I’m reminded of a New York Times report from a couple of months ago: In October, he felled a top candidate for House speaker, Representative Tom Emmer, by posting that voting for him “would be a tragic mistake!” On Wednesday, Mr. Emmer capitulated and endorsed him. “They always bend the knee,” Mr. Trump said privately of Mr. Emmer’s endorsement, according to a person who spoke to him.
They always bend the knee. When the former president clashes with key figures in his party, he tends to follow a simple three-part plan: It’s a model that leaves politicians like Emmer looking rather pitiful, but the plan seems to work out just fine for Trump. This post updates our related earlier coverage.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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