Kevin McCarthy Holds Onto Support of Most Republicans in Wake of Leaked Tapes
By: Natalie Andrews (WSJ)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
WASHINGTON—Republicans said they remain firmly behind House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy as they fight to win back control of the House, with many brushing off a series of recordings that showed him wavering in his support of former President Donald Trump after the Capitol riot on Jan. 6 last year.
Mr. McCarthy (R., Calif.) defended himself in a closed-door meeting of the House Republican conference on Wednesday morning, the first since the recordings emerged of his remarks. Members gave him a standing ovation, and comments from lawmakers who attended the meeting indicated his tight grip on his conference appears to be holding firm, keeping him in a strong position to be the next speaker of the House if the GOP seizes the majority this fall.
“This is simply a distraction by the left trying to drive a wedge in a very unified Republican party and a very unified conference that we have right here that is clear to the Democrats that we’re going to take control,” said Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R., Ga.) coming out of the meeting at the Capitol Hill Club.
A series of recordings of Republican leadership meetings released by New York Times reporters over the past week show Mr. McCarthy telling other top GOP lawmakers that he would advise Mr. Trump to resign as impeachment efforts gained steam, several days after rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol.
Mr. McCarthy told Republicans on Wednesday he was sorting through possible scenarios and never actually asked Mr. Trump to resign, according to people in the meeting.
Mr. Trump told The Wall Street Journal in an interview Friday that he wasn’t pleased to learn of Mr. McCarthy’s comments in the Jan. 10, 2021, House leadership call, but he said Mr. McCarthy ultimately never advised him to quit. He said that Mr. McCarthy quickly changed his stance “when he found out the facts,” and embraced him fully, a few weeks after the call.
Mr. Trump was impeached by the House on a charge of inciting insurrection but acquitted in the Senate.
On Tuesday night, the New York Times released new recordings of Mr. McCarthy saying in private conversations with party leaders in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 attack that several far-right members of Congress could incite violence against other lawmakers. He mentioned Reps. Matt Gaetz (R., Fla.) and Mo Brooks (R., Ala.) specifically. On the recording, House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R., La.) suggested Mr. Gaetz might have crossed a line with comments criticizing other Republicans he saw as disloyal to Mr. Trump.
Mr. Gaetz spoke in the closed-door meeting on Wednesday morning and was one of a few members who seemed upset by the tapes, GOP lawmakers said. He specifically singled out Mr. Scalise, according to people familiar with the call.
Coming out of the meeting, Mr. Gaetz declined to share what he said, adding that his level of confidence in Mr. McCarthy was “no more or less than usual.” He declined to say what his usual level of confidence was and pointed reporters to his previous comments about the matter.
“Rep. McCarthy and Rep. Scalise held views about President Trump and me that they shared on sniveling calls with Liz Cheney, not us,” Mr. Gaetz said in a statement on Tuesday, referring to the January 2021 comments. “This is the behavior of weak men, not leaders,” he said.
Ms. Cheney was kicked out of House Republican leadership last spring after regularly criticizing Mr. Trump. She is one of only two Republicans serving on the House select committee investigating the riot.
According to lawmakers in the meeting on Wednesday, Mr. McCarthy shifted the focus to today’s issues. He said Republicans need to be focused on addressing rising inflation, immigrants crossing the border illegally, and campaigning to win the House majority. He was greeted with a standing ovation, lawmakers said.
“It’s not an issue across America, Jan. 6 is not an issue. It’s made up,” said Rep. Roger Williams (R., Texas). He said more lawmakers were concerned about the Congressional baseball game this summer than about Mr. McCarthy.
The select committee investigating the Capitol attack has sought for Mr. McCarthy to testify, as well as Reps. Jim Jordan (R., Ohio) and Scott Perry (R., Pa.), but all have declined. A person familiar with the committee’s plans said Wednesday that the panel will likely send a letter to Mr. McCarthy and ask him to reconsider testifying to the panel.
The purpose of the meeting on Wednesday was to strategize on winning the House majority. Fifteen Republican members committed to raising $1.85 million total for the National Republican Congressional Committee, a person who attended the meeting said.
Asked to respond to Mr. McCarthy telling his conference that he was just playing through scenarios regarding Mr. Trump, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D., N.Y.), the Democratic Caucus Chair, told reporters: “I’ll simply say that the radical right playbook is simple. … It’s a five-point playbook. Number one, lie. Number two, lie. Number three, lie. Number four, lie. Number five, lie again.
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