Since leaving office and being replaced by President Joe Biden, Donald Trump has spent most of his time at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, remaining out of the spotlight.
On Thursday, Trump’s team released a statement and a photograph of the former president, C-SPAN reported via Twitter .
Trump held a meeting with House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy and discussed the Republican Party’s efforts to win back the lower chamber next year.
The meeting “was a very good and cordial one,” the statement said.
“They discussed many topics, number one of which was taking back the House in 2022. President Trump’s popularity has never been stronger than it is today, and his endorsement means more than perhaps any endorsement at any time.”
Trump’s team noted that polling predicted the GOP would lose House seats in the 2020 election, but the opposite actually happened, with more than a dozen conservative candidates beating their Democratic opponents.
“They worked very well together in the last election and picked up at least 15 seats when most predicted it would be the opposite. They will do so again, and the work has already started,” the statement said.
Trump’s team also released a photograph of the two men, standing next to each other and smiling.
According to CNN , the meeting was initiated by McCarthy, which suggests that the former commander-in-chief is still an influential voice in conservative politics.
McCarthy has struggled to unite his caucus, as some Republicans pledged their loyalty to Trump and others condemned him for inciting the January 6 riots at the United States Capitol.
Ten of McCarthy’s colleagues voted to impeach Trump for inciting an insurrection against the U.S. government, deepening internal divisions.
A GOP aide told CNN that “a lot of people are frustrated at Kevin because he’s at the helm of the conference,” noting that the party is in a “terrible position” at the moment.
Trump’s camp releases this photo from his meeting with McCarthy today pic.twitter.com/uJaA2FN5a0
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) January 28, 2021
McCarthy has sought to downplay the divisions in his caucus. At a press conference last week, he said that the GOP “will unify” and argued that differences of opinion will not harm its standing as it challenges the Biden administration and prepares for the 2022 midterms.
But Trump reportedly still holds a grudge against Republicans who refused to fully endorse his conspiracy theories about voter fraud in the 2020 election. He was said to be interested in creating a third party , but reportedly gave up on the idea after realizing that his candidates would not be able to primary Republicans.
