“The View” co-host Whoopi Goldberg on Wednesday said House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) should “grow a pair of cojones” after the Republican leader appeared to waffle on whether former President Trump is the strongest GOP candidate to run against President Biden in 2024.
“I think a lot of this is fear … fear of losing their jobs and fear of being seen with no cojones, like Kevin McCarthy yesterday,” Goldberg said on “The View,” followed by a clip of McCarthy on CNBC questioning whether Trump is the strongest Republican option. “He was asked if it would be good for Republicans if you-know-who is the nominee.”
“McCarthy told — later told Breitbart [that] you-know-who is Biden’s strongest opponent,” Goldberg said, referencing McCarthy’s comments in a later interview that Trump is “stronger today than he was in 2016.”
“What is happening here? I just want him to grow a pair of cojones that will give him some way to actually not waffle,” Goldberg said of the Speaker.
Co-host Sunny Hostin said McCarthy “can’t, because of the deal he made to become Speaker.”
“He gave away his cojones and kicked them under the table,” she said. “He doesn’t have them anymore. … The cojones are under the table.”
McCarthy became Speaker after 15 rounds of voting earlier this year, and notably secured the top House seat by making a number of concessions to his opponents.
McCarthy in the CNBC interview expressed confidence that Trump could beat Biden, but added, “The question is, is he the strongest to win the election? I don’t know that answer.”
Speaking hours later to Breitbart News, the Speaker said that Trump is “stronger today than he was in 2016” and is “Biden’s strongest political opponent.”
Both Biden and Trump are running for another White House term in 2024, polling in the lead of their respective primary fields and potentially setting up a rematch of their 2020 race.
Sara Haines, another “The View” co-host, argued that “extreme candidates remain winning because they primary them.”
“They threaten them with, ‘You will lose your primary if you don’t say, “Nope, nope, he’s the best,”‘” she said, adding, “so we keep getting these extremes.”