The Scoop
Steve Bannon and other Trumpworld figures are encouraging longtime Breitbart writer Matt Boyle to mount a primary challenge to a Republican in Florida who opposed Jim Jordan’s speakership.
Boyle has been meeting with people urging him to run against Florida Rep. John Rutherford, but it’s unclear how interested he is in the idea.
“UltraMAGA Matt Boyle will be the next Congressman from Florida,” Bannon told Semafor. “Boyle has been with President Trump from the early days and gets the America First Movement like few others.”
Bannon said that Boyle is taking “tons of meetings” with local groups “begging him to run” and described “real grassroots swell” for a potential candidacy.
Sebastian Gorka and Republican fundraiser Caroline Wren are also among those publicly encouraging Boyle to run for Congress. Boyle declined to comment for this story.
“I’ve had a lot of people calling me asking me to do it. I’m definitely hearing them out. We’ll see where it goes,” Boyle said during an appearance on Gorka’s podcast. “It’s a huge decision. I don’t know if I would do that next year.”
“I would love to see you run,” Gorka replied.
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Rutherford, who represents Florida’s 5th congressional district and has endorsed Donald Trump, was among the group of 25 Republicans who prevented Jordan from becoming speaker last month, incensing some conservatives who wanted to see the Ohio Republican atop the House GOP.
“He needed to know there’s no way forward for a speakership. He missed his moment in leadership when he failed Steve Scalise,” Rutherford told reporters following a meeting with other holdouts and Jordan last month. “That was pretty much everybody’s opinion.”
At the time, Rutherford said his staff were receiving threats due to his opposition to Jordan.
The Cook Political Report currently rates Florida’s 5th district as a toss-up in 2024. Rutherford’s office did not return a request for comment by publication.
Boyle, who is the Washington bureau chief at Breitbart, lives in Rutherford’s district.