Steve Benen is a producer for 'The Rachel Maddow Show,' the editor of MaddowBlog and an MSNBC political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of 'The Impostors: How Republicans Quit Governing and Seized American Politics.'
To fully appreciate the relationship between Kevin McCarthy and Donald Trump, one must start with a story about, of all things, candy. In early October 2018, the then-president and then-House majority leader were sitting alone on Air Force One when the congressman noticed that Trump was enjoying two specific flavors of square-shaped Starburst candies.
The former president responded: With McCarthy out, Trump added, Republicans might now “end up with one of the great speakers of all time, in which case Matt Gaetz did a tremendous favor.” I won’t pretend to know why the former president referred to McCarthy having done “the Obama work” — Trump’s preoccupation with his predecessor continues to be a little creepy — but putting that aside, imagine being the ousted House speaker and hearing comments like these.
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