+

Cookies on the Business Insider India website

Business Insider India has updated its Privacy and Cookie policy. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the better experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we\'ll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on the Business Insider India website. However, you can change your cookie setting at any time by clicking on our Cookie Policy at any time. You can also see our Privacy Policy.

Close
HomeQuizzoneWhatsappShare Flash Reads
 

House GOP leader says Trump 'goes up and down with his anger' and sometimes targets him

Apr 26, 2021, 21:30 IST
Business Insider
House Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and U.S. President Donald Trump attend a signing ceremony for H.R. 266, the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act, in the Oval Office of the White House on April 24, 2020 in Washington, DC.Anna Moneymaker/The New York Times/POOL/Getty Images
  • House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is still painting a rosy picture of the Capitol insurrection.
  • McCarthy made a number of excuses for former President Donald Trump in a New York Times interview.
  • "He goes up and down with his anger," he said of Trump. "He's mad at everybody one day. He's mad at me one day."
Advertisement

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy attempted to justify former President Donald Trump's behavior around the January 6 Capitol siege in a recent interview with The New York Times.

McCarthy also tried to rationalize Trump's ire toward him for not doing more to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

"He goes up and down with his anger," McCarthy told The Times. "He's mad at everybody one day. He's mad at me one day."

McCarthy, who initially criticized Trump's provocation of the riot, has more recently walked back his condemnation and defended the former president. He reportedly got in a shouting match with Trump over the phone during the storming of the Capitol, pleading with the then-president to call off the rioters.

"Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are," Trump reportedly said on the call.

Advertisement

"Who the f--- do you think you are talking to?" McCarthy reportedly told Trump as insurrectionists were ransacking the Capitol.

McCarthy told The Times that he feared Trump would abandon the GOP after his election loss if party leaders didn't appease him. He suggested that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who ended his relationship with Trump post-riot, wasn't fulfilling his duty as a GOP leader.

"Look, I didn't want him to leave the party," McCarthy said. "Mitch had stopped talking to him a number of months before. People criticize me for having a relationship with the president. That's my job."

In a recent interview with "Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace, McCarthy struck a different tone, saying Trump "put something out to make sure to stop this. And that's what he did, he put a video out later." In that video, Trump called the rioters "very special" and drew widespread condemnation for being too sympathetic in his statement.

You are subscribed to notifications!
Looks like you've blocked notifications!
Next Article