Some House Republicans can read the handwriting on the wall and foresee a dismal showing by President Donald Trump and other GOP politicians in the November election and are preparing for what happens after the ballots are tabulated, according to a revealing new article from the Washington Post.

Among the possible changes: Ousting House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) from leadership:

“A cluster of GOP lawmakers is starting to privately question whether the California Republican is putting loyalty to the president over the good of the conference. And a small group of members is discussing whether someone should challenge him for minority leader if Trump is defeated Nov. 3.

“The matter bubbled to the surface this week with the primary election of Marjorie Taylor Greene, a fringe House candidate in Georgia who espouses the QAnon conspiracy theory and has made numerous racist comments. Multiple Republicans implored McCarthy to help defeat her by supporting her primary opponent. But McCarthy refused, phoning the candidate in an apparent peace accord before the primary, while Trump embraced her on Twitter this week as a ‘future Republican Star.'”

The biggest complaint with McCarthy seems to be his slavish devotion to Trump, whose poll numbers continue to plummet thanks in large part to his mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic and the accompanying economic recession. Former House GOP leadership staffer Doug Haye said the minority leader’s chummy bond with Trump could well cost him if Republicans do poorly in November:

“There’s no doubt that McCarthy is a Trump loyalist, through and through. I think the challenge for everyone in the Republican conference is, at some point there will be a post-Trump world — whether that’s coming in three months or later. What direction does the party go?”

10 House Republicans who spoke to the Post on the condition of anonymity said they believe McCarthy has indeed harmed the long-term viability of the GOP by tying them to Trump:

“One House Republican was blunt in criticism of McCarthy, whom Trump has referred to as ‘my Kevin’: ‘He does nothing but lick Trump’s boots. That’s all he cares about — so no, it’s not helpful.'”

If Trump loses his bid for a second term and the GOP also suffers losses in competitive House races, one House Republican noted, the party will have to reexamine if they want to stick with McCarthy:

“He becomes damaged goods [if Trump loses], but it could be offset if he is successful in helping the GOP conference win back a bunch of seats. But if we lose . . . the Republican conference is probably going to be looking for something different in leadership.”

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