In an audio recording released Thursday, U.S. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said he would urge Trump to resign just days after the Capitol riot.
The New York Times released the recording, dated Jan.10, 2022, which features McCarthy speaking to a group of Republican leaders as well as former No. 3 House Republican Liz Cheney. Cheney can be heard asking McCarthy if he thought there was any chance Trump would resign.
“My gut tells me no. I am seriously thinking about having that conversation with him tonight,” McCarthy said “From what I know of him — I mean, you guys know him too — do you think he would ever back away?”
McCarthy previously denied having said conversation and wrote on Twitter that an earlier report from the New York Times was “totally false and wrong.” Similarly, McCarthy’s spokesperson, Mark Bednar, also previously told the Times “McCarthy never said he’d call Trump to say he should resign.”
Communications Director for the Wisconsin Institute of Law and Liberty told WTMJ’s Steve Scaffidi, “I think this play – I know there is a lot of speculation that someone like Liz Cheney released this tape – I do not think it was her. This is someone who wants to be Speaker of the House, whoever released this. This is someone knifing Kevin McCarthy because Kevin McCarthy is likely to be the next Speaker of the House if Republicans win the majority.”
A Cheney spokesman said Friday morning that the House select committee to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol attack asked Kevin McCarthy to speak about the events but he declined. The spokesman also said that Representative Cheney did not record or leak the tape and does not know how the reporters got it.