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Former President Donald Trump and House of Representatives minority leader Kevin McCarthy (California) spoke on the phone Thursday night about a recent audio recording in which McCarthy told Republican leaders that Trump should resign after the January 6, 2021 attacks. Capitol, according to two people familiar with the conversation.
The sound contradicts McCarthy’s assertion that he did not urge Trump to resign after the deadly pro-Trump mob uprising. More audio clips surfaced on Friday, in which McCarthy said, “I have it with this man,” and accused Trump of storming the Capitol.
Trump was not upset by McCarthy’s remarks and was glad the Republican leader did not follow, which Trump saw as a sign of his continued control of the Republican Party, according to the two, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a personal conversation.
But Republicans in the House of Representatives are still waiting for a firm statement from Trump, according to many Republicans, on how to determine whether they should still support McCarthy as their leader and potential speaker if the Republican Party regains a majority in November.
“If Trump comes out and says [McCarthy] I lost my faith and I can’t speak, that’s brave. This will move people. If he makes a statement complaining, he complains about McConnell all the time and has not jeopardized his leadership position, “said a Republican congressman who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.
The 1-minute audio clip from January 10, 2021, was released after McCarthy challenged a report earlier Thursday that he and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) Had committed to privately pushing Trump out of politics after the Capitol attack by the Capitol on January 10, 2021 pro-Trump mob.
The Washington Post’s investigation into the January 6 uprising
During the conversation, Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) Asked if Trump had a chance to resign. McCarthy said he doubted it, but said, “I’m serious about having this conversation with him tonight.”
McCarthy added that he would tell Trump as Democrats push through plans to re-impeach the president that “my recommendation would be to resign,” according to the audio clip. McCarthy said he did not think his efforts would convince Trump.
McCarthy also told the audio: “Now this is a personal fear I have. I don’t want to get into any conversation about Pence’s pardon.
The report is based on the work of two New York Times reporters, Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns, whose book This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden and the Battle for America’s Future will be published next month. The call lasted more than an hour. The audio clip was also aired Thursday on the MSNBC Rachel Madow Show.
On Friday, Martin and Burns appeared on CNN and shared additional audio clips of conversations with the Republican leadership in which McCarthy blamed Trump for the attack on the Capitol and said the president had told him he had “some responsibility” for the uprising.
In an audio call from January 10, 2021, McCarthy said: “I had it with this man. What he did is unacceptable. No one can defend this and no one has to defend it. “
A day later, in a separate call, McCarthy told Republicans: “But let me be very clear to all of you, and I was very clear to the president: He is responsible for his words and actions. Without if, and or but. Today I personally asked him: “Is he responsible for what happened? Does he feel bad about what happened? He told me that he had some responsibility for what happened and that he had to admit it, “McCarthy said in the audio clip.
McCarthy’s office has not responded to recent revelations.
Cheney is the deputy chairman of the House of Representatives’ committee, which is investigating the deadly attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob. A spokeswoman for the congresswoman said in a statement: “The elected committee asked Kevin McCarthy to talk to us about these events, but he has so far refused. Representative Cheney has not recorded or leaked the tape and does not know how reporters received it.
In a statement, spokesman Steve Scaliz (R-La.), The Republican leader in the House of Representatives, rejected the issue with a broad stance against Democrats, but most of all did not defend McCarthy by name.
“Whip Scalise’s only focus is on working with his colleagues to put an end to the Radical Democrats’ agenda. Neither he nor any of his team have recorded or leaked personal conversations between members, “said Lauren Fine.
Nebey Betre, a spokesman for the Democratic Campaign Committee, was more outspoken in a statement: “Kevin McCarthy has proven to be an invertebrate leader and now a bold liar.
When audio clips denying McCarthy surfaced, much of the Republican conference in the House of Representatives remained particularly silent on Twitter. Some refrained from commenting until Trump made a statement, while others said it was not a “problem” that was not worth splitting the conference before the Republican-run midterm elections.
Several of McCarthy’s allies stood up for him.
“In 29 weeks, Republicans will have the majority and Kevin McCarthy will be president of the House,” tweeted new spokesman Tony Gonzalez (R-Tex), minutes after the audio was released on MSNBC.
Representative Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa), who is widely considered by her peers to be a freshman likely to rise to the top, reiterated her mood and tweeted Friday that the Republican conference was “united to bring America back to the right place.” road ”before the interim terms.
A McCarthy spokesman told the Times that the California Republican “never said he would call Trump to say he had to resign.”
In a statement Thursday morning, McCarthy called the newspaper’s reports “completely false and erroneous” and accused the media of “doing everything possible to promote the liberal agenda.”
“The last year and a half have shown that our country was better off when President Trump was in the White House, and instead of dealing with the real problems facing Americans, corporate media is more concerned with profiting from artificial political intrigue. from politically motivated sources, “McCarthy said.
McCarthy initially sided with Cheney after she was one of 10 Republicans to vote for Trump’s impeachment. But he later led the indictment to remove her from the Republican leadership in the House of Representatives, punishing her for her public battle with Trump over his false allegations and efforts to hold him responsible for the uprising. The Republican House of Representatives has replaced Cheney with member Elise Stefanick (RN.Y.), an ardent supporter of Trump.
McConnell’s office declined to comment on the report. According to the Times, the Kentucky Republican predicted that the Senate would condemn Trump, and he said in private in the days after the January 6 attack: “If this is not impeachment, I do not know what it is.”
Despite their private comments condemning Trump in the days after the Capitol attack, McCarthy and McConnell soon backed the president.
At the end of January 2021, McCarthy traveled to Trump’s private Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, where the two discussed Republican efforts to retake the House and posed for a joint photo shoot. Next month, McConnell said he would “absolutely” support Trump if the former president wins the Republican nomination in 2024.
If Republicans win a majority in the November election, McCarthy has indicated that he will seek the presidency, which will require the support of Republicans in the House of Representatives in the January 2023 vote.
Member of Parliament Adam Kinsinger (R-Ill.), A vocal critic of Trump and another Republican working on the election commission investigating the January 6 attack, tweeted Thursday that he said McCarthy said he “had “With Trump, they were ‘100 percent true.’
“McCarthy was over Trump until he did when he realized he needed him. This photo literally resurrected Trump’s political life, “Kinzinger said, sharing the photo of Mar-a-Lago with the two men. “Thanks, Kev.”
According to the New York Times, McCarthy also said in the days after the attack that he would like Twitter to close the accounts of some Republicans in the House of Representatives, such as Republicans from the House of Representatives Lauren Bobert (Colouro), who made comments he considered inappropriate. with the uprising.
A McCarthy spokesman told the newspaper that McCarthy “never said that certain members should be removed from Twitter.” Boebert’s office did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
Paul Kane and Eugene Scott contributed to this report.
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