New House speaker Kevin McCarthy thanks Trump for ‘helping get those final votes’

McCarthy had earlier blamed Trump for encouraging his supporters to attack the US Capitol two years ago

After an extraordinary week of in-fighting from the Republican party, newly elected House speaker Kevin McCarthy thanked Donald Trump for helping him overcome holdouts from his own ranks and secure the final votes to seal his victory.

Things came full-circle for Mr McCarthy, who two years ago called it the “saddest day” of his political career as the GOP ceded both chambers of Congress and the presidency to Democrats and he denounced the violent insurrection at the Capitol.

In the days afterward, Mr McCarthy blamed the then-president for encouraging his supporters to march on Capitol Hill, where they then interrupted the certification of the 2020 election results.