Kevin McCarthy, a senior Republican in the House of Representatives, privately accused one of his colleagues of “putting people in danger” after the January 6 uprising, according to a leaked audio recording.
In a telephone conversation with Republican leaders on January 10, 2021, McCarthy said that Matt Gates, a Florida congressman and ardent supporter of Trump, put Americans at risk with his comments after the attack on the US Capitol, which left five dead.
The New York Times received a recording of a conversation in which McCarthy and Republicans, including Steve Scalis, Republican Republican No. 2 in the House of Representatives, discussed an interview with Gates in which he attacked Republican members who criticized Trump.
“He puts people in danger,” McCarthy told Gaetz.
“And he doesn’t need to do that. We saw what the people in the Capitol would do, you know, and these people came prepared with a rope, with everything else.
In the days after the uprising, McCarthy sharply criticized Trump, saying: “The president is responsible for Wednesday’s attack on Congress by mafia rebels.” McCarthy has since defended Trump’s actions, suggesting that Trump did not know the riot was happening.
In a January 10 conversation, McCarthy also called on Mo Brooks, an Alabama congressman who said at a rally before Trump supporters attacked the Capitol: “Today is the day American patriots start kicking names and kicking ass.”
“Do you think the president deserves to be impeachment for his comments?” McCarthy asked. “It’s almost something that goes beyond what the president said.”
Discussing the statements and actions of some Republicans, McCarthy said: “Our members also need to start paying attention to what they are saying, and you can’t put up with that kind of nonsense.
Lauren Bobert, a congressman from Colorado, and Barry Moore from Alabama were among the other GOP members mentioned in the conversation. Beabert was a staunch supporter of Trump’s actions that day.
“The tension is too high, the country is too crazy, I don’t want to look back and think we did something or missed something and someone got hurt,” McCarthy said.
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