If Trump is a would-be authoritarian, the House drama shows that he not the kind who cares much about exercising authority beyond himself.
Donald Trump, by all appearances, was more in sync with Rep. Jim Jordan to be the next House Speaker. But he did not make any vigorous effort on Jordan's behalf. | Scott Olson/Getty ImagesJohn Harris is founding editor and global editor-in-chief of POLITICO. His Altitude column offers a regular perspective on politics in a moment of radical disruption.
Donald Trump, by all appearances, was more in sync with Rep. Jim Jordan, an outspoken Trump backer from Ohio, to be the next House Speaker. But he did not make any vigorous effort on his behalf. When the Republican conference instead gave a tepid nomination to Rep. Steve Scalise, a go-along, get-along Louisianan, Trump could have shown his clout and put Scalise in his debt by telling the GOP it was time to close ranks, especially amid war in Israel.
Scalise maintained that his physical health left him strong enough to serve. But his political health did not. He dropped out of the race Thursday night after it became clear there would be too many GOP defectors for him to win a formal vote in the narrowly divided House. To the contrary, he seemed to regard the turmoil and ritual humiliations — first McCarthy, then Jordan, now Scalise — as a sideshow. In important respects, he is right.
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