In the aftermath of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, then-House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy took some modest steps away from Donald Trump. Publicly, for example, the California Republican conceded that the former president “bears responsibility” for the riot.
Privately, McCarthy told his members — in comments that were recorded and later released — that he’d “had it with this guy,” referring to Trump. The GOP leader added, “What he did is unacceptable. Nobody can defend that, and nobody should defend it.”
That was in early January 2021. In late January 2021, just 17 days after the “had it with this guy” comments, McCarthy hopped on a plane, went to Mar-a-Lago, met with Trump, and kissed the proverbial ring of the disgraced former president he’d infuriated with a mild rebuke.
In her new book, former House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney sheds some additional light on the story with new behind-the-scenes details. CNN reported:
Cheney also accuses McCarthy of repeatedly lying and choosing the “craven” path of embracing Trump. She recounts the moment she first found out that McCarthy, fearing he had lost his ability to fundraise, secretly went to visit Trump at Mar-a-Lago just three weeks after the Jan. 6 attack. At first, Cheney thought the photo of the two men smiling and shaking hands was fake. But she was incredulous at McCarthy’s defense of his visit. He claimed Trump’s staff summoned him.
According to the report on the soon-to-be-published book, Cheney asked the future House speaker, “Mar-a-Lago? What the hell, Kevin?” McCarthy replied, referring to the former president’s aides, “They’re really worried. Trump’s not eating, so they asked me to come see him.”
The Wyoming Republican was apparently incredulous. “What? You went to Mar-a-Lago because Trump’s not eating?” Cheney asked. “Yeah, he’s really depressed,” McCarthy said.
In her book, she added that there were other Republicans on Capitol Hill who were also “angry and disgusted” at McCarthy’s visit to the former president’s glorified country club. “Some mocked him, circulating the Trump/McCarthy photo along with the clip from the movie “Jerry Maguire” where Tom Cruise tells Renée Zellweger, ‘You … complete … me,’” she wrote. The book, “Oath and Honor,” will be released next week, and Cheney apparently doesn’t pull her punches, taking aim at many of her former GOP colleagues as “enablers and collaborators.” Though I haven’t yet read the book, it’s reportedly filled with plenty of important insights related to House Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and an exchange in which Republican Rep. Mark Green of Tennessee, in Cheney’s telling, referred to Trump as “the Orange Jesus.” With this in mind, let’s also note that Cheney will be sitting down with Rachel Maddow live on Monday’s show. I have a hunch you won’t want to miss that one.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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