McCarthy’s Trump comments reverberate through Washington after tapes are revealed

Home Minority Chief Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) feedback about wanting then-President Trump to resign within the aftermath of the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol are reverberating all through Washington, with Democrats calling him a liar and Republicans saying he’s nonetheless effectively place to change into Speaker after the midterms.

McCarthy dominated headlines this week after The New York Occasions reported that the California Republican, throughout a name with GOP management on Jan. 10, 2021, stated he would advocate that Trump resign from workplace.

McCarthy denied the report, calling it “completely false and mistaken.” However then the tapes rolled.

MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Present” aired audio on Thursday, shared by the Occasions, that corroborated the report.

“The one dialogue I’d have with him is that I believe this can cross, and it will be my suggestion it is best to resign,” McCarthy stated within the recording.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) blasted McCarthy on Sunday, calling him “a liar and a traitor.”

“That is outrageous. And that’s actually the sickness that pervades the Republican management proper now, that they are saying one factor to the American public and one thing else in non-public,” Warren informed CNN’s “State of the Union.”

McCarthy has additionally acquired criticism from throughout the Republican Occasion. Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-In poor health.), who has beforehand denounced the minority chief and Trump, wrote on Twitter that McCarthy needs to be “ashamed” of being caught in a lie.

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), a staunch Trump ally, laid into McCarthy amid the unfolding drama in a tweet, accusing the Republican chief of standing by Rep. Liz Cheney (Wyo.), a number one anti-Trump voice within the GOP. She was additionally heard on the decision with McCarthy, although her workplace has denied she leaked the tapes.

The controversy concerning McCarthy and the tapes comes because the GOP is broadly anticipated to regain a majority within the Home in November’s midterms, with McCarthy seen because the main candidate to carry the Speaker’s gavel for the final two years of President Biden’s time period.

Whereas some Republicans have bashed McCarthy for his feedback, different GOP lawmakers on Sunday defended the Home minority chief.

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) stated McCarthy is “in superb form” to steer the convention. He additionally claimed on “Fox Information Sunday” that McCarthy by no means truly mentioned resignation with Trump.

“You need to put it within the context of when it was given. This was actually proper after Jan. 6. It was a really darkish day. It was a really stunning day. A variety of feelings flying excessive,” McCaul stated.

“What Kevin was doing was gaming out varied choices that, hey, if — what if he received impeached within the Home after which within the Senate convicted? Wouldn’t it be higher for him to resign previous to that? However the reality is, he by no means had that dialog with President Trump.”

McCaul added that “the assist within the convention could be very sturdy for him” and predicted that “Kevin would be the subsequent Speaker of the Home.”

Requested Sunday how Individuals can imagine what McCarthy says after he lied in regards to the Trump feedback, Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) stated, “Properly, lots of people have been saying lots of issues in that two weeks.”

Blunt informed NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he has not spoken to McCarthy in regards to the matter however stated he was “type of stunned” that the GOP chief “would even recommend [resignation] is likely to be a sensible suggestion to make to President Trump.”

On 2022 and past, nonetheless, Blunt says the GOP and McCarthy are in tremendous form.

“I believe lots of issues will occur between now and November. I believe one factor that’s more likely to occur is Republicans shall be within the majority. And if that occurs, no one can have labored tougher to make that occur than Congressman McCarthy has,” Blunt stated.

One different Republican who was not deterred by the feedback was Trump himself. The previous president informed The Wall Road Journal that whereas he “didn’t like the decision,” he likes McCarthy.

McCarthy stated he spoke with Trump twice on Friday and that the 2 had a “good dialog” in regards to the recordings.

The recordings have been obtained by Occasions reporters Jonathan Martin and Alex Burns for his or her upcoming e book “This Will Not Go: Trump, Biden and the Battle for America’s Future.”

The Hill reached out to McCarthy for touch upon Warren’s remarks.