In the audio, the California Republican repeatedly lamented inflammatory comments made by some GOP lawmakers following the attack on the US Capitol, a far cry from his efforts to downplay the role of Republicans on Jan. 6.
On January 10, 2021, McCarthy urged Republican leaders in a private call to monitor public statements by lawmakers, such as Representatives Mo Brooks of Alabama and Matt Gaetz of Florida, and alert him to any potentially dangerous messages.
“The country is too crazy,” McCarthy said, according to audio obtained by two New York Times reporters for his upcoming book, “This Will Not Happen: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America’s Future.”
“I don’t want to look back and think that we caused something or that we missed something and someone got hurt. I don’t want to play politics with any of that.”
McCarthy did not respond to questions from reporters on Capitol Hill Tuesday about the New York Times report. Asked if he was concerned that he could hurt his chances of becoming House speaker if Republicans win the House in the midterm elections, he said, “No.”
The Republican leader had specifically objected to a television interview Gaetz gave attacking Republican Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and other Republicans who criticized former President Donald Trump. “He is putting people in danger,” McCarthy said of Gaetz, according to the audio. “And he doesn’t need to be doing this. We saw what people on Capitol Hill would do, you know, and these people came prepared with rope, with everything else.”
House Minority Whip Steve Scalise called Gaetz’s conduct “potentially illegal,” according to the Times. Scalise deflected questions about Tuesday’s New York Times report and criticized the “liberal media” for reporting on the insurrection.
“I haven’t seen what they mean. But it’s no surprise that the liberal media wants to keep talking about January 6, because they don’t want to focus on all the crises President Biden created, from inflation to gas prices. to the border,” he told reporters.
Gaetz criticized McCarthy and Scalise in a statement he tweeted Tuesday night, saying in part that “Rep. McCarthy and Rep. Scalise had opinions about President Trump and me that they shared in tearful calls with Liz Cheney, not us.” This is the behavior of weak men, not leaders.”
Brooks, responding to the report, told CNN in a statement that “Kevin McCarthy spoke before he knew the facts.”
According to the audio, McCarthy became more scathing when an inflammatory tweet from Alabama Republican Rep. Barry Moore about troublemaker Ashli Babbitt was read aloud during the call. “Can’t they take away their Twitter accounts too?” McCarthy asked.
Not all Republican lawmakers were eager to endorse McCarthy after reporting the leader’s comments.
Asked by CNN if he was worried about McCarthy talking about taking down the Twitter accounts of some conservatives, Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona replied, “Hell yeah.” Hours earlier, he had told OAN that the audio clips of McCarthy’s comments on Trump were “problematic” and created a “major trust issue,” but what concerned him most were McCarthy’s comments on the use of social media.
Rep. Randy Weber of Texas said he believes McCarthy will ultimately be pardoned, but “this should be a discussion we have as a family at the House Republican conference,” which meets Wednesday morning.
McCarthy’s comments mark the latest example of a damning conversation he had immediately after it came to light on January 6.
The California Republican is already facing criticism after several audio clips revealed conflicting statements he made about Trump.
During a closed-door leadership meeting Tuesday night, McCarthy addressed the recent controversy, two sources familiar with the meeting told CNN.
After making a joke about someone recording him, McCarthy explained to his leadership team, as well as committee leaders, that he never asked Trump to resign or brought that idea to the conference.
“Don’t let things like this divide us. We need to stick together,” McCarthy said in concluding his remarks.
This story has been updated with additional information on Tuesday.
CNN’s Melanie Zanona and Lauren Fox contributed to this report.
Reference-www.cnn.com