GOP House Leader Kevin McCarthy Continues To Defend Trump, Four Months After Capitol Insurrection

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-California) was faced with a choice in the aftermath of the January 6 Capitol insurrection. McCarthy was urged to cut ties with the outgoing President Donald Trump by several Republicans like Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Nebraska) and Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Illinois), but others in the GOP embraced Trump even after his voter fraud claims were wholly debunked. As the GOP leader in the House, McCarthy has chosen to stand by Trump even now, four months after deadly riots incited by the former president shook the Capitol.

During an interview Sunday, McCarthy further defended Trump’s conduct during the Capitol insurrection. When asked about a phone call between himself and Trump during the riots, McCarthy defended the former president saying Trump “put something out to make sure to stop this. And that’s what he did, he put a video out later.”

“Quite a lot later,” replied Fox News host Chris Wallace. “And it was a pretty weak video.”

In a separate interview, McCarthy further justified GOP actions before the Capitol insurrection including the objection to the certification of Arizona and Pennsylvania’s 2020 election results. “We voted not to certify two states,” McCarthy said in an Indiana interview. “And Joe Biden would still be sitting in the White House right now.”