Allies of McCarthy have begun to question the fitness of McCarthy for the House's top job after hearing new audio that shows McCarthy wanting Donald Trump to resign following the Jan. 6 insurrection.
The GOP leader is still the favorite to be speaker in 2023. However, with Republicans likely to take back the House in 2023, it could put McCarthy's chances of winning over a significant block of pro-Trump Republicans, especially if Trump decides to oppose McCarthy's bid for the speakership.
Although most House Republicans were silent on Friday, and some said they believed the controversy would end, several Trump close friends stated that they believe McCarthy will need to spend months proving their pro-Trump credentials. Washington was waiting for a signal from Trump about how to respond the audio of McCarthy's Jan. 10, 2021 comments.
Early indications suggested that Trump's aides downplayed the impact of McCarthy's revelations on Trump's relationship with McCarthy.
Jason Miller, an ex-Trump spokesman, said that he would be surprised if Trump allowed left-ofcenter journalists and pundits a victory in the war on terror.
According to a source familiar with the matter, McCarthy and Trump spoke about Thursday's new revelations. They were first made public in audio obtained from the New York Times. According to a person familiar with the matter, Trump was not upset by the New York Times' initial report on the remarks. However, they didn't know how he would react to the release of the audio tape supporting it. The Washington Post reported the first time about the conversation between McCarthy, Trump.
In the wake of the fatal riot, McCarthy is seen preparing to officially break with Trump. This was just as House Democrats were beginning to draft an impeachment resolution.
McCarthy stated that McCarthy would only have one discussion with him about the impeachment resolution. McCarthy said that while this would be his take, he wouldn't agree with it. But I don’t know."
McCarthy suggested that he was worried Trump would ask him about Mike Pence's pardon. This would have allowed Trump to ascend to the presidency if he resigned. Rep. Liz Cheney (R.Wyo) joined McCarthy on the call. McCarthy was joined by Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo) as the third-ranking Republican. They briefly discussed Trump's Cabinet invoking The 25th Amendment. This would allow Trump to be removed immediately. McCarthy also revealed that he had spoken with Trump within the past "couple of days."
Spokespeople for Cheney (R-La.). House Minority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise. The recording of the call and the leakage of the audio were denied by Cheney's spokespersons. Representative Tom Emmer (R.Minn.), who is the spokesperson for House Republicans' campaign arm did not immediately respond when asked. After the release of tapes, McCarthy's office did not respond to multiple requests for comment. McCarthy's aides had earlier called the New York Times report "totally falsified and wrong" on Thursday. This statement has been refuted by audio.
This call demonstrates the extent to which GOP leaders had been preparing to abandon Trump following the attack. Only for McCarthy to quickly re-enter Trump's fold. McCarthy, who strongly denied that he planned to recommend Trump's resignation prior to the tape being released, has since been one of Trump's most staunch defenders and has worked to stymie congressional inquiries into the Jan.6 attack. He warned tech companies of potential retaliation if they cooperated with House Jan. 6 investigators and he pulled the plug on the prospect of a 9/11-commission-style investigation of the attack, despite having deputized a Republican lawmaker who forged a bipartisan proposal.
McCarthy could be affected by the public appearance of the audio recordings from the days after the attack, which could impact his bid for the position of House speaker. Trump holds great power over House Republicans. His reaction to McCarthy's comments could have ripple effects across the caucus and among candidates who are likely to help Republicans win control of the House in the next year.
An anonymous member of the proTrump House Freedom Caucus said that they were not ready to comment and would like to give Kevin an opportunity to fully respond.
Iowa Rep. Ashley Hinson tweeted his support for McCarthy.
People familiar with Trump's reaction to the audio said that Trump had positive feelings about the whole episode.
A person who knows the ex-president's reactions said that Trump thought it was funny and made him look powerful and strong. I've heard enough people say that Trump thinks it's funny. He also thinks it makes Kevin look good.
Other Trump allies, who were previously critical of McCarthy, quickly piled on to the GOP leader -- at least for trying to deny McCarthy's comments while the reporters clearly had receipts.
On his podcast, Steve Bannon, a former Trump adviser who was part of the effort to defeat Trump's election won a presidential pardon for defrauding Trump supporters. He said it was a "cardinal sin," that McCarthy had not denied McCarthy's remarks.
Boris Epshteyn, a Trump associate, described the audio as "extremely harmful to hopes that Kevin McCarthy must become speaker".
Epshteyn stated that Kevin McCarthy has a major problem. Epshteyn said that if he can do anything to repair fences and prove himself to MAGA, then that is his responsibility.
It was also a reminder of McCarthy's rejection by the Jan. 6 select panel to discuss his interactions with Trump shortly before and on Jan. 6. McCarthy ripped the panel at the time and stated that he didn't have anything new to say to the already public information. This tape shows that McCarthy still had information that wasn't widely known.
In a Jan. 6 letter, McCarthy was invited to testify by the committee. He noted that his public statements regarding the Capitol attack had "changed significantly" since he met Trump at Mar-a-Lago, Florida on Jan. 28, 2021. The Congressional investigators wanted to know if Trump and his associates had discussed publicly what the Republican leader should have said about Jan. 6, during the impeachment trial, or later investigations.
