During a CNBC interview on Tuesday, host Joe Kernen asked Speaker McCarthy about the possibility of the twice-indicted (so far) Donald Trump becoming the Republican party’s presidential nominee and whether he could beat President Joe Biden in the 2024 general election.

“Can Trump beat Biden? Yeah, he can beat Biden,” McCarthy replied.

But when Kernen asked if a Trump nomination would be good for the party, McCarthy wobbled a bit. “I think if you want to go sheer policy-to-policy, it’s not good for Republicans, it’s good for America,” he said, "Trump's policies are better, straightforward, than Biden's policies." That’s hardly a ringing endorsement of Trump’s candidacy or his chances for success.

McCarthy acknowledged that the Trump indictments and upcoming trials “makes it complicated” but, he said, Trump’s predicament “also helps him."

“But can he win an election?” Kernen pressed.

Here’s where McCarthy probably made Trump go for the ketchup. “Can he win that election? Yeah, he can,” McCarthy said. Then, unprompted, he added, “The question is, is he the strongest to win the election? I don’t know that answer.”

Perhaps aware of what had just slipped out, McCarthy went on to say that “anybody can beat Biden” and that Biden “can beat other people.”