A reading of this conversation, which took place on January 11, 2021, was reported earlier by CNN. But two New York Times reporters received an audio recording of a conference call about their upcoming book, “It Won’t Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America’s Future,” and shared it with CNN.
“But let me be very clear about you, and I was very clear about the president. He is responsible for his words and actions. Not if, and or but, “McCarthy told Republicans at the House on January 11, 2021, according to the audio received from CNN. “I asked him personally today, is he responsible for what happened? Does he feel bad about what happened? He told me that he has some responsibility for what happened. And he has to admit that.”
In a separate call the day before, McCarthy said, “I had this with this man. What he did is unacceptable. No one can defend this, and no one should defend him.” The authors of the book say that these comments are related to Trump.
McCarthy refused to cooperate with a House of Representatives committee on Jan. 6 that wanted to question him about his communications with Trump, White House officials and others in the week after the uprising. McCarthy said he had nothing to offer on the panel, as he had already revealed publicly that he had a telephone conversation with Trump on January 6.
McCarthy made similar public comments in a low-profile local radio interview a week after the uprising, which CNN reported earlier this year.
“I say he’s responsible,” McCarthy told KERN, a local radio station in Bakersfield, California, on January 12 last year. “He told me personally that he has some responsibility. I think a lot of people have it.”
Earlier this year, McCarthy avoided asking during a news conference whether he remembered telling Republicans in the House of Representatives that Trump had claimed responsibility for the Capitol uprising.
So far, Trump has never publicly claimed responsibility for the attack. Trump’s condition – and whether he has personally admitted any guilt in the uprising – is of great interest to the House of Representatives committee investigating the January 6 Capitol attack.
Times reporters revealed another bombshell this week in which McCarthy told other Republican leaders in the House of Representatives in the days after Jan. 6 that he planned to advise Trump that he should resign. McCarthy and his aides flatly denied the report before the audio leaked.
The committee also wants to know why McCarthy has changed his tune for Trump since then and whether Trump or any of his associates have asked McCarthy to change his tone about the president’s role in the attack and their personal conversations.
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