Just days after the Jan. 6 riots, House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy told a fellow Republican that he would recommend then-President Donald Trump step down, according to audio of a call obtained by MSNBC and aired Thursday night.
On the January 10, 2021 call, McCarthy can be heard telling Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyoming, that he planned to tell the president he should resign following the violent attack on Capitol Hill by a mob of Trump supporters.
McCarthy, R-Calif., also indicated he thought impeachment would succeed in the House and possibly the Senate.
“The only discussion I would have with him is that I think this will happen, and it would be my recommendation that he resign,” McCarthy said in audio that aired on “The Rachel Maddow Show.”
The New York Times formerly reported the content of the call, which is included in the forthcoming book “This Shall Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America’s Future,” by Jonathan Martin and Alex Burns, to be published May 3.
McCarthy on Thursday denied the Times report, calling it “totally false and incorrect” in a statement on Twitter.
The Times later included audio of the call.
On the call, Cheney can be heard asking McCarthy about the possibility of resigning.
“Are you hearing that I might quit? Is there any reason to think that might happen?” Cheny asks.
McCarthy responds that he “had some discussions,” adding that he planned to call Trump later that night, but doubted Trump would “ever leave.”
“But what I think I’m going to do is call him,” says McCarthy.
“This, this is what I think: We know it will pass the House. I think there is a chance that it will pass the Senate, even after he is gone,” McCarthy says, apparently referring to an impeachment resolution.
NBC News has reached out to the offices of McCarthy and Cheney for comment on the new audio.
The revelations could complicate McCarthy’s path to the presidency if Republicans regain control of the House in November’s midterm elections. He will likely need Trump’s support to secure the speaker’s spot if there is a Republican majority.
Three days after McCarthy’s phone call with Cheneytold the House floor that Trump “bears responsibility for” the “attack on Congress by mob rioters” and “should have immediately denounced the mob when he saw what was happening.”
He went on to say that Trump “needs to accept his share of the responsibility, quell the unrest that is brewing, and ensure that President-elect Joe Biden can successfully begin his term.”
But by the following week, McCarthy had changed course, telling reporters, “I don’t think he provoked it, if you listen to what he said at the rally” on January 6. Days after, McCarthy met with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, looking to mend their relationship.
Haley Talbot Y kyle stewart contributed.
Reference-www.nbcnews.com