There is one unmistakable takeaway from Kevin McCarthy losing his fourth and fifth and sixth straight votes for speaker yesterday: 

Donald Trump couldn’t help him one bit.

The former president may be the most influential voice in the GOP, and on Truth Social he urged House Republicans to "VOTE FOR KEVIN, CLOSE THE DEAL, TAKE THE VICTORY…DO NOT TURN A GREAT TRIUMPH INTO A GIANT & EMBARRASSING DEFEAT…Kevin McCarthy will do a good job, and maybe even a GREAT JOB - JUST WATCH!" 

The result: 20 Republican rebels voted against McCarthy yesterday, the same number that kept the long-sought gavel out of his hands on Tuesday’s third ballot. Trump could not convince a single member to switch.

This is not just idle speculation. Trump has been key to McCarthy’s bid for the speakership. When McCarthy went to Mar-a-Lago for a fence-mending visit after Jan. 6, it was to get Trump’s support for the job he has wanted for years.

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Most of those blocking McCarthy’s ascent backed Trump’s unproven claims of a stolen election, or said during the campaign that they would have. Still, they may view this as an internal matter – it’s certainly personal against McCarthy – and therefore resistant to pressure even from the ex-POTUS.

Rep. Lauren Boebert, a leader of the dissidents, called Trump "my favorite president" on the floor, but also said he should tell McCarthy to withdraw.

I honestly think that most Americans are in the wake-me-when-it’s-over camp. That’s because the House – whose members are not sworn in and can’t do anything during this impasse – is not debating some grand issue that touches people’s lives. It’s more about who gets to wield power.

If you like parliamentary maneuvering and far-fetched scenarios, you might have had a good time. There was media chatter that the Democrats might bail out the GOP by backing a consensus candidate. The Dems quickly threw cold water on that notion.

The contrast with President Biden, meanwhile, could not be greater. Though the event was planned in advance, Biden appeared with Mitch McConnell in Kentucky yesterday to celebrate the replacement of a crumbling bridge under the bipartisan infrastructure bill. Other top Democrats and Republicans were invited. Biden and McConnell (who the rebels also view as a swamp creature) understand each other.

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Asked about the Republican paralysis before he left Washington, the president said "that’s not my problem," adding: "I just think it’s a little embarrassing that it’s taking so long." 

Later he said this was "not a good look" for the United States and "I hope they get their act together."

The rebels have shown discipline. Since McCarthy’s vote slide means that Hakeem Jeffries, the House Democratic leader, is getting more votes than him, the dissidents chose to spotlight an African-American congressman, Byron Donalds of Florida. 

The 20 who had previously backed Jim Jordan – who’s supporting McCarthy– promptly switched their votes to Donalds.

If the Republicans have this much trouble coalescing around a speaker, what will they do when they’re facing a possible default or other crisis legislation? Just as they needed merely five votes to checkmate McCarthy, or to strip him of the post if he became speaker, these five – or any five with a grievance – can again block action against an overwhelming majority of the party.

In an ominous sign for the pro-Kevin forces, Rep. Victoria Spartz changed her vote to "present" on the fifth ballot and told CNN she will not vote for McCarthy again.

Since this has been shaping up as a contest of embarrassment – which side would blink first? – let me toss out this media question.

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The cable news networks have provided near-constant coverage of the speakership battle. By yesterday, as the predictable tallies did not budge, anchors and reporters started talking over the proceedings with whatever insights they could offer.

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If this gets to a 15th or 25th ballot, and the proceedings are no longer covered live or reduced to a small box at the bottom of the screen, does that help or hurt Kevin McCarthy’s bid?

A Washington Post piece published last month knocked parents for speaking out against a novel describing oral sex between two ten-year-old boys, despite the book's author admitting he never intended for his work to be placed in school libraries.

The education piece published online Dec. 22 discussed the controversy of "Lawn Boy," a novel by Jonathan Evison. Several passages from the book, described by Post reporter Hannah Natanson, depict a pair of ten-year-old boys who "meet in the bushes after a church youth-group gathering, touch each other’s penis, and progress to oral sex." 

In an interview with the Post, Evison said his book was not meant to be included in school libraries and was surprised to hear that the American Library Association gave "Lawn Boy" an award in 2019 for books written for adults that have "special appeal to young adults." 

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The author added that he believes his book was included in school libraries because of the award, and if recommended to middle schoolers or lower, it was likely confused with the children’s book "Lawn Boy," by Gary Paulsen. 

In the Post education piece, "A mom wrongly said the book showed pedophilia. School libraries banned it," Natanson said that "misinformation" from parents about the book made it the second-most contested book of 2022. 

Natanson specifically focused on two parents, Brandi Burkman and Stacy Langton, who spoke out at their local school board meetings against the book, and incorrectly claimed that the book depicted sex between an adult male and a young boy. The Post credits the two parents for springboarding the novel to the national spotlight, garnering the attention of politicians and prominent news outlets. 

Langton, speaking with Fox News Digital, acknowledged she was wrong about her pedophilia claim and said that the passages of "Lawn Boy" describing the sexual encounter were confusing, as the tense of the passages consistently shifts between an adult male in the present and his sexual experience as a child.

But, she added that her comments about pedophilia were directed not just at the novel "Lawn Boy," but also at another book, "Gender Queer: A Memoir," written by Maia Kobabe. 

Indeed, the viral video of Langton at her Fairfax, Virginia, school board meeting shows her holding up both books while addressing the board. "Gender Queer" does in fact show drawings of a sexual encounter between a man and a young boy and has been removed from numerous school bookshelves. 

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The Post piece defending "Lawn Boy" and labeling Langton as a purveyor of "misinformation" makes no mention of the "Gender Queer" memoir. 

Langston also took issue with the Post article characterizing parents’ objections to sex acts depicted in a book like "Lawn Boy" as unjustified "panic," and said that calling parent protests "misinformation" does a disservice to those who stand up to protect kids from sexualization in school libraries. 

"I brought two books to the podium that day: one has sex between two little boys, one has an illustration of sex between a man and a boy, i.e. pedophilia," Langton added. "Splitting hairs over which type of sex we are talking about in an effort to minimize the horror of pedophilia just shows the Post's left-leaning bias, in the same vein as corporate media referring to pedophiles as ‘minor-attracted persons.'"

The Washington Post and the article's writer did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request to comment on Langton’s criticism of the piece and why the book "Gender Queer" was not mentioned. 

Natanson has previously written about the sexual imagery found in "Gender Queer" in September 2021. 

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In the piece, "Fairfax school system pulls two books from libraries after complaints over sexual content," the writer describes a page from the graphic novel which shows "a sexual fantasy of the author’s — in which an apparently teenage youth is about to engage in fellatio with an older, bearded man — that the book states was based on Plato’s ‘Symposium." 

The writer further notes that the philosophical text "Symposium" details speeches on love, including an argument that "heavenly love" can only occur between a man and a boy.

The author of "Gender Queer," Kobabe has said that the image in her book is based on an ancient Greek pottery cup of a "courting scene" on display in England. 

Concerned parents had spoken up at Fairfax County School Board meetings to protest the "Lawn Boy" and "Gender Queer’s" presence in school libraries, but the school district reinstated the books after two committees ruled that they do not contain pedophilia or obscene material.

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Fairfax County Public Schools restored the books in the library after a committee review, which concluded that neither book contains pedophilia. 

In January 2022, nearby Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) removed "Gender Queer," with then-superintendent Scott Zielger asserting that the "pictorial depictions" found in the book "ran counter" to what is school appropriate.

"I read every book that is submitted for my review in its entirety. I am not generally in favor of removing books from the library," Zielger told the Post.

The Post was previously criticized for publishing a glowing review of a "play about pedophiles" that critics believe downplays sexual abuse and attempts to normalize pedophilia. 

The piece by Washington Post chief drama critic Peter Marks, "‘Downstate’ is a play about pedophiles. It’s also brilliant," was first published on Nov. 23. 

The Post drama critic noted that "the predators who’ve completed their prison terms are depicted not as monsters but rather as complicated, troubled souls," and wrote that the audience will learn what each pedophile has done. He also wrote that the "most disagreeable character" is one of the victims of pedophilia.