House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, of California, was at the center of Capitol Hill controversy after the New York Times published an audio recording of a phone call made in the days after the Jan. 6 attack, where McCarthy could be heard as contemptuously as the former President Trump and accused several members of his conference of dangerous rhetoric.
The big picture: McCarthy, one of Trump’s most loyal allies, is set to become president of the House after interim terms in November. But his path to success relies on firm conservative support: desertions by too many GOP members could ruin his chances. Here’s what happened so far after the recordings:
April 21: Two New York Times reporters publish an excerpt from their book This Will Not Pass, which describes a January 10, 2021, conversation between McCarthy and other senior Republicans in which McCarthy said he planned to force Trump to resign. on the occasion of the riots on January 6. The Republican leader denied the information, calling it “completely false and erroneous.”
- Later that evening, reporters Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns recorded a call on the Rachel Madow Show, in which McCarthy was heard speaking to spokeswoman Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) And others about Trump:
McCarthy: “Liz, are you talking on the phone?” Cheney: “Yes, I’m here. Thanks, Kevin … Do you hear he might resign? Is there any reason to think this could happen?” McCarthy: “I had a few discussions. He tells me no. I’m seriously thinking of having this conversation with him tonight. I haven’t spoken to him in days. From what I know about him – I mean, you all know him too. Do you think he will ever back down? But what I think I’m going to do is call him. “…” Excerpt from the January 10 conversation.
Key Answer: McCarthy talks to Trump on a phone call about the tape. Trump doesn’t seem upset by the audio, and he’s grateful that McCarthy didn’t actually push him to step down.
- Trump later told the Wall Street Journal that his relationship with McCarthy was not damaged by the recording. “It’s all a big compliment, to be honest,” he said. “They realized they were wrong and they supported me.
April 26: The New York Times releases an audio recording of another January 10, 2021, phone call in which McCarthy fears that comments made by far-right members of Congress “put people in danger.” He supports the fact that some of its members are losing access to Twitter.
- McCarthy later dismissed the importance of audio during a brief meeting with senior Republicans in the House of Representatives, saying he should not allow this to divide members because the conference has more important issues to focus on.
“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 in the second audio.
Key answer: Republicans in the House of Representatives rally around McCarthy, although Representative Matt Goetz (R-Fla.) Explodes leader for both bands, while others, including Republicans Marjorie Taylor Green (R-Ga.), Publicly hesitate. your loyalty to him.
- During a GOP conference on Wednesday morning, McCarthy defended his previous comments, claiming that the publication paints an incomplete picture of the conversation, that he spoke hypothetically and that he never scattered his members in public.
- He receives applause from the regulars.
What to watch: The two New York Times reporters who released the recording said they “have a lot more on tape than this period.”
- “I think it’s going to tell a very different story about this period of history that a lot of people are trying to tell right now,” Jonathan Martin of the New York Times told MSNBC’s Rachel Madow.
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