Trump backs Kevin McCarthy for House Speaker

In an interview with Brietbart, President Trump said, "Look, I think this: Kevin has worked very hard. He is just—it's been exhausting. If you think, he’s been all over. I think he deserves the shot. Hopefully he's going to be very strong and going to be very good and he’s going to do what everybody wants."

Trump gave the interview from his golf resort in Miami, Florida, and cautioned GOP in Congress about not supporting McCarthy, saying they could end up with someone like Paul Ryan, who the former president described as a "disaster for the Republican Party."

Florida Rep. Gaetz was one of the first to say he would not support McCarthy, after the midterms proved disappointing for GOP who were hoping for a "Red Wave."

Others, such as Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, have warned against moving past McCarthy.

"Yeah, I support McCarthy," Trump said, "Everybody wants my support. I was 99 percent on endorsements (in the primary). I don't know the percentage but I was 233 and 22 on general election. Everybody would say that 'yeah for the nomination he's incredible but for the general election…' But what's that percentage? 233 and 22—it's incredible. They always want my endorsement."

President Trump said, "I think it's a very dangerous game that's being played. It's a very dangerous game. Some bad things could happen. Look, we had Boehner and he was a strange person but we ended up with Paul Ryan who was ten times worse."

"Paul Ryan was an incompetent speaker. I think he goes down as the worst speaker in history. We took [out] Boehner—and a group of people, some of whom are the same, and they're very good friends of mine. All those people are very good friends of mine," Trump added.