WASHINGTON (AP) – Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy had a “positive” conversation with Donald Trump and apparently suffered a small political blow Friday because of an audio post saying the president should resign as soon as possible. January 6 Uprising of the Capitol.
McCarthy worked quickly to bolster Republican support, calling and texting several high-ranking lawmakers about his talks with Trump because he was in a hurry to contain political consequences.
In the audio, which first aired on Thursday’s უ New York Times Aired Rachel Meadows ’MSNBC show, McCarthy was heard talking to Democrats in the House of Democrats of an attempt to oust Trump after his supporters took over the Capitol in by storm.
In a recording of a discussion on Jan. 10, 2021, McCarty discussed Democrat efforts to oust Trump and said, “I think this will pass and I would advise you to step down.”
McCarthy released a statement Thursday questioning the report, calling it “completely wrong and inaccurate”. His spokesman, Mark Bednar, said in the paper: “McCarthy did not say he would call Trump and was told to step down.”
On Friday, the Times ran another post, this time on Jan. 11, 2021, on the Republican conference call. The audio heard McCarthy tell his members that he asked the former president if he felt he was responsible for the deadly uprising and that Trump acknowledged some responsibility.
“I asked him personally today, is he responsible for what happened? McCarthy said about this record. “Are you upset about what happened?” He told me he was responsible for what happened and he had to admit it. “
The spread of audio could jeopardize the power of the head of the Republican Chamber. McCarthy is poised to be a spokesman if Republicans take control of the fall election and is highly dependent on Trump for support to get there. But a man familiar with McCarthy’s phone call on Thursday described the call as “positive.”
“I’m not mad at you,” Trump told McCarthy Thursday afternoon, according to another acquaintance. Both people were given anonymity to handle the call. McCarthy and his office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump and McCarthy had tensions after the attack on the Capitol, but the alliance was severed after the GOP leader flew to the former president’s resort in Florida to settle the dispute.
The Times report on Thursday was taken from the upcoming book by journalists Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns, “It Won’t Pass: Trump, Biden, and America’s Struggle for the Future.”
There is no indication that McCarthy actually told Trump to step down. In the same conversation, McCarthy told his colleagues that he doubted Trump would take advice to step aside before being forced.
“This would be my recommendation,” McCarthy told the rep. In response to a question from Liz Cheney, R-Vaio., Who emerged as an avid critic of Trump. “I don’t think he will get it, but I don’t know.”
The crowd came there to attack the Capitol from a rally near the White House where Trump asked them to fight to reverse the election result. However, he certainly denied responsibility for the violence.
McCarthy indicated in an interview with the Associated Press in California this week how important Trump is to his party and his prospects to have control of the House this fall. “It’s going to motivate, it’s going to draw a lot of people out,” McCarthy said at the Fresno GOP event.
The audio depicts a completely different McCarthy, who has led the House of Republicans for the past year and a half and remains an ally of Trump even after he left the House shortly after Jan. 6, in which he called the attack . in the “non-American” Capitol. At the time, McCarthy called the attack the saddest day of his career and told his Republican colleagues that Trump had “taken responsibility” for the violence.
However, even after the violence, McCarthy joined half of House Republicans to challenge Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.
Since then, the Californian Republican has distanced himself from any criticism of Trump and avoided direct linking to what happened. In the weeks following the siege of the Capitol, McCarthy said he did not think Trump had instigated the attack, as other prominent Republicans said at the time.
Instead, McCarthy visited Trump and visited him at the former president’s residence in Florida, Mar-a-Lago, as he relies on the former president’s branding to support his campaign this fall.
McCarthy, 57, strategically sets his own delicate path to the speaker, well aware of the challenges faced by key right-wing members of the conference, creating headaches over the burning actions and statements. .
No other Republican leader has won House positions for McCart’s leadership position. McCarthy recruited a class of recruits to raise the GOP ranks and rallied millions to support Republican campaigns. He brought his closest rival to the squad, though he was working to consolidate the votes that would be needed to get the speaker.
An outside group formed with McCarthy took the lead in attracting funding before the midterm election, and incumbent Republicans working to regain a majority in the House are unlikely to be critical of the leader until November.
However, McCarthy was also interested in representing the House Committee, which is investigating the storm in the Capitol on Jan. 6. The select committee, whose Vice President Cheney requested an interview with McCarthy in mid-January, found information about in McCarthy’s communication. Trump and White House staff a week after the violence, including a conversation with Trump that reportedly heated up.
Hours after receiving the request, McCarthy released a statement saying he refused to cooperate because he considered the investigation illegal and accused the jury of “abusing his authority.”
Associated Press writer Mary Claire Jalonick contributed to this report.
Source: Huffpost
