Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California desperately wants to be speaker of the House of Representatives. He will say and do anything except demonstrate integrity or a backbone to get there.
Last week, McCarthy’s office strenuously denied a report that in the days following the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol he told Republican leaders he would ask President Donald Trump to resign.
McCarthy claimed such an assertion was “totally false and wrong.” McCarthy trotted out the usual talking points, saying it “comes as no surprise that the corporate media is obsessed with doing everything it can to further a liberal agenda.”
But then The New York Times released audio providing that McCarthy was, in fact, a liar and the “corporate media” in fact was just reporting the truth.
In one recording, Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyoming, can be heard asking if it was possible Trump would consider resigning.
“My gut tells me no,” McCarthy responded. “I am seriously thinking about having that conversation with him tonight.”
McCarthy goes on to say, referring to the likelihood of articles of impeachment succeeding, “The only discussion I would have with him is I think this will pass, and it would be my recommendation that he should resign … That would be my take, but I don’t think he would take it. But I don’t know.”
Since the release of the audio, McCarthy has been busy doing damage control, including reaching out to Trump to ensure Trump doesn’t go after him and deflecting questions from reporters who ask him about it.
“I met a lot of duplicitous people in Congress but none more conniving and fundamentally dishonest than Kevin McCarthy,” tweeted former Republican and Libertarian Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan in response. “He will say or do whatever he thinks is necessary at a particular moment to obtain or maintain power.”
Indeed that appears to be the case.
McCarthy, like many Republican politicians, clearly recognized the problems of President Donald Trump and his brand of politics for a long time. He also rightly understood that Trump’s post-election rhetoric is indisputably what prompted the attack on the Capitol.
But he couldn’t stand up to Trump and Trumpism publicly, because Trump clearly maintains broad support among the Republican base. Had McCarthy stuck his neck out, he knew his dream of being House speaker would be over, as Trump would call on those still loyal to him to either primary him or oust him as Republican leader.
That’s politics, of course. Politicians do what they need to do and say what they need to say to stay in power. This is often at odds with what the principled thing to do is.
Will McCarthy still end up Speaker of the House despite all of this? Plausibly. All expectations are that, if current trends hold, Republicans will regain the House and McCarthy is in prime position to end up Speaker of the House if that happens. After that, it depends if Trump and his supporters decide to let McCarthy stay in control.
Again, that’s all politics.
But no one should be under any illusions. McCarthy is a cynical politician who lacks the integrity to stand up for what is right and tell the truth when he’s called on to do so.