WASHINGTON – House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy told fellow GOP lawmakers shortly after the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection that he would urge then-President Donald Trump to resign, according to audio posted by The New York Times and aired on Rachel Maddow’s MSNBC show.
“I asked him personally today, does he hold responsibility for what happened? Does he feel bad about what happened? He told me he does have some responsibility for what happened, and he needs to acknowledge that,” McCarthy said.
The recording was released by The New York Times a part of their upcoming book “This Will Not Pass”.
In the book, reporter’s Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns write McCarthy told fellow Republicans “I’ve had it with this guy”, and planned to urge Trump to resign.
“The only discussions I would have with him is that I think will pass, and it would be my recommendation you should resign,” McCarthy said.
This contradicts previous statements by McCarthy saying “The New York Time’s reporting on me is totally false and wrong”.
My statement on the New York Times pic.twitter.com/PWi2WkoWzh
— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) April 21, 2022
As to who made the recording and leaked it, Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney who can be heard on the tape, denies it was her.
“Are you hearing that he might resign? Is there any reason to think that might happen,” Cheney said.
McCarthy replies, “I’ve had a few discussions My gut tells me no. I’m seriously thinking of having that conversation with him tonight. I haven’t talked to him in a couple of days.”
President Joe Biden addressed the recordings during his trip to the West Coast on Friday.
“This ain’t your father’s Republican party, no a joke, all you have to look at what is played this morning that the tape that was released. This is MAGA party, these guys are a different breed of cat,” Biden said.
ABC News does report that Trump and McCarthy did talk after the audio recordings were released. Sources say that Trump was not particularly upset with McCarthy because he believe it shows that he still has a grip on the GOP.
Both Trump and McCarthy have not spoke publicly about those audio tapes yet.