Steve Scalise promises not to run against Kevin McCarthy to lead House GOP

Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., doubled down on previous comments Thursday confirming that he would not run against Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., as the leader of the House Republican caucus if he decided to run.

“No, and I’ve said that before. I mean, I’ve never run against Kevin and wouldn’t run against Kevin. And he and I are good friends,” Scalise said on Fox News Thursday morning.

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wis., announced Wednesday he would be retiring at the end of his term, but would remain in his position as speaker until the end of his term in Congress.

Since then, it has been rumored that both second-ranking House Republican McCarthy and House Majority Whip Scalise would be front-runners to replace Ryan. It remains to be seen if the winner of that vote will be speaker in January — Democrats believe Ryan’s retirement could be a signal the House will flip in November’s elections.

“Look, I don’t make up titles and I’ve got a long record as a conservative who’s fought to advance a more conservative agenda. Kevin’s a conservative too. In the end, we are going to be judged on what we get done,” Scalise said when asked if it was true that he was more conservative than McCarthy.

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