Borger: ‘Boehner Saying McCarthy Would Be a Good Speaker’ Will Hurt McCarthy

KEILAR: “Yes, sure — sure was for him. Gloria, we heard today in this press conference the speaker saying that Kevin McCarthy would make a great speaker and that his number one responsibility as he had communicated to McCarthy would be to protect the institution. What do you think, though? Obviously, there are a number of other Republicans who will be considering this position. What could the next regime look like?”
BORGER: “I think it’s probably going to be — it might look more like a coalition government, if you will. I’m not so sure Boehner saying McCarthy would be a good speaker is good for McCarthy.” 
KEILAR: “Sure.”
BORGER: “Particularly with the Freedom Caucus of conservatives who want anybody who has not been tied to Speaker Boehner. So, I think you’re going to get some conservatives deciding they may want to run for the speakership against McCarthy, who is also conservative, I might add, by the way, and who has had a very rapid rise in the House leadership. But I think people are trying to sort of figure that out right now. One more point about Speaker Boehner being at peace, I was speaking with somebody who is close to Boehner who had clearly communicated with Boehner about his decision. And he said to me, “You know, I think the speaker is more at peace with his decision than I am.” And I think if you are an establishment Republican right now, and you look at what Boehner did, which is essentially say, you know what, I don’t have to go through this anymore, I’m going to leave anyway, and why do I want to this, if you’re an establishment Republican now running for president, you look at what’s happened to Boehner and it doesn’t give you any great comfort. I mean, Barack Obama was nicer to John Boehner today than Ted Cruz or Rick Santorum were. Right?”
KEILAR: “Yes, as was Harry Reid.” 
BORGER: “Exactly. Exactly.” 
KEILAR: “It was really amazing to watch. That’s a great point you make. Gloria Borger, Robert Costa, thank you both so much.”