McCarthy, McConnell reportedly expressed outrage over Trump after Capitol riot [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Sen. Mitch McConnell and Rep. Kevin McCarthy were reportedly enraged over then-President Donald Trump after the Jan. 6 insurrection.
• The top Republican leaders, according to a book, seemed to be interested in removing Trump from office.
• Both lawmakers backed away from the plans and reversed themselves.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy allegedly said he would tell then-president Donald Trump to resign after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, according to a new book by two New York Times reporters. The controversial book also claims that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said that the former president’s behavior warranted impeachment.

The two top Republicans publicly blamed Trump for the insurrection in the weeks following the Capitol attack. However, both lawmakers stopped short of saying Trump should be removed from office. The new book notes that neither Republican made a serious attempt to hold Trump accountable.

On Jan. 10, McCarthy reportedly told his leadership team that what Trump did was “unacceptable” during a private conversation. The California legislator also said he would tell the then-president to resign. “Nobody can defend that and nobody should defend it.”

Three days later, McCarthy said in a House floor speech that Trump “bears responsibility for Wednesday’s attack on Congress by mob rioters,” but insisted that he shouldn’t be impeached. McCarthy then called for a “fact-finding commission.”

McCarthy reversed himself again after a week by saying he didn’t believe Trump “provoked” the Capitol attack. McCarthy, who previously supported the fact-finding commission, announced that he is against it in May.

McCarthy’s office denied that the congressman ever said he wanted Trump to resign. The House Minority leader is keen on replacing Nancy Pelosi as House speaker if Republicans win the House in this year’s midterm elections.

On Thursday, McCarthy said in a statement that the new reporting is “totally false and wrong” and praised Trump: “The past year and a half has proven that our country was better off when President Trump was in the White House.”

Meanwhile, McConnell reportedly told associates in private that if Trump’s behavior wasn’t impeachable, “I don’t know what is.” 

McConnell publicly denounced Trump that January. He even called the then-president’s actions “a disgraceful dereliction of duty.” He added that it was obvious Trump incited the riot. Later, McConnell voted to acquit him of the impeachment charge for “incitement of insurrection” on a technicality.

Early this month, McConnell said he’d support Trump’s bid for reelection in 2024 if he won the nomination.

McConnell’s office has not responded to a request for comment for this article.

Source: HuffPost