Like a lot of top Republicans, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has had a complex relationship with Donald Trump over the years.
The two occasionally clashed while Trump was president and McCarthy was among the leaders of the House Republicans, and on January 6, the two men reportedly had a heated phone call. In that call, McCarthy told Trump that the rioters were “ “trying to f—— kill” him.
“Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are,” Donald Trump reportedly said that day, according to Robert Draper’s book “Weapons of Mass Delusion: When the Republican Party Lost Its Mind.” During the debate over Trump’s second impeachment, McCarthy stated that the then-president “bears responsibility” for the riot, although he voted against that impeachment.
A few months later, McCarthy visited Trump at Mar-a-Lago, and the two appear to have been on the same page for much of the last two years.
Donald Trump Has a Problem
However, this week, McCarthy stated that he isn’t sure if Donald Trump is the strongest Republican candidate in 2024, even as he stated that Trump is capable of defeating President Biden.
The comments came in an interview the speaker gave to CNBC.
“Can Trump beat Biden, yeah, he can beat Biden,” McCarthy said in the interview. “Trump’s policies are better, straightforward, than Biden’s policies… Can he win that election? Yeah, he can… The question is, is he the strongest to win the election? I don’t know that answer.”
At the same time, McCarthy has regularly defended Trump following his indictment, as well as for the Hunter Biden plea agreement. However, McCarthy has not endorsed a candidate in the Republican nomination contest.
Earlier this week, McCarthy announced that he is endorsing an effort by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) to expunge Trump’s two impeachments, although constitutional experts have stated that there is no legal or constitutional process for expunging presidential impeachments.
“I think it is appropriate,” McCarthy told reporters last week. “Just as I thought before — that you should expunge it, because it never should have gone through.” McCarthy has expressed opposition to current efforts by members of Congress to pursue the impeachment of President Biden, although he did recently express conditional support for an effort to impeach Attorney General Merrick Garland.
“We need to get to the facts, and that includes reconciling these clear disparities. U.S. Attorney David Weiss must provide answers to the House Judiciary Committee,” McCarthy said on Twitter this week. “If the whistleblowers’ allegations are true, this will be a significant part of a larger impeachment inquiry into Merrick Garland’s weaponization of DOJ.”
The whistleblower, Gary Shapley, claims that U.S. Attorney David Weiss told him and several other people in a meeting last October that he did not have the authority to file charges in Washington, and that he had requested to be granted special counsel status.
However, Garland has forcefully denied what Springer has alleged.
“As I said from the moment of my appointment as attorney general, I would leave this matter in the hands of the United States attorney — who was appointed by the previous president and assigned to this matter by the previous administration — that he would be given full authority to decide the matter as he decided was appropriate, and that’s what he’s done,” Garland said in a statement to the press after the Hunter Biden deal was announced, per The Hill.
The attorney general also attacked those who have “chosen to attack the integrity of the Justice Department.”
Weiss, a Donald Trump appointee, has stayed on through the charging decision for Hunter Biden and was said, per Garland, to have full authority when it comes to charging decisions- described by Garland as greater than that of a special counsel.
Expertise and Experience
Stephen Silver is a Senior Editor for 19FortyFive. He is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver.
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