McCarthy thanks Trump after House speaker vote: 'He was with me from the beginning'

Newly elected Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., gave special thanks to former President Donald Trump for his role in the negotiations that won over several Republican holdouts and led to McCarthy winning support from his conference to be elected speaker.

"I do want to especially thank President Trump," McCarthy told reporters early Saturday morning. "I don't think anybody should doubt his influence. He was with me from the beginning … he was all in."

Concluding four days of high drama, the House of Representatives elected McCarthy as speaker on the 15th ballot, after he made several concessions to a group of 20 hardline Republicans who had withheld their support from him on the first 14 votes.