‘I Still Support Kevin’: GOP Lawmakers Unbothered By Leaked Kevin McCarthy Audio

Some rank-and-file Republicans are rushing to Kevin McCarthy’s defense after leaked audio emerged of the House minority leader slamming former President Donald Trump just days after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

“I still support Kevin. … Water under the bridge. This is kind of a story I don’t think that’s going anywhere, but I support him wholeheartedly,” Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) said Friday after she was asked on Fox Business whether McCarthy had a credibility problem.

McCarthy told GOP lawmakers on a private call after Jan. 6, 2021, he intended to recommend Trump resign over the violent insurrection at the Capitol. He also said that Trump admitted to him that he bore some responsibility for the deadly attack that day.

“I’ve had it with this guy,” the California congressman said on the call, referring to Trump. What the former president did on Jan. 6 “is unacceptable” and “nobody can defend that, and nobody should defend it,” he added.

But when McCarthy categorically denied a New York Times story detailing his comments as “totally false and wrong,” the Times released audio recordings of the call that proved McCarthy did, in fact, say those things.

McCarthy has yet to address the audio recording publicly. He is reportedly making phone calls to allies to try to smooth the whole thing over, according to Punchbowl News.

Trump also hasn’t issued a statement on the leaked recording yet. The former president is known to be vengeful when it comes to his critics, especially within the GOP. But he has also chosen to look past such episodes with other critics-turned-supporters, such as Ohio GOP Senate candidate J.D. Vance, who said plenty of negative things about Trump before ultimately earning his endorsement.

Although much of the House GOP conference stood silent in wake of the leaked audio, first-term Rep. Ashley Hinson of Iowa tweeted in support of McCarthy on Friday.

“Republicans are going to take back the majority in November and when we do, Kevin McCarthy will be our Speaker,” Hinson said. “There will be a red wave & our conference is united to get America back on track.”

Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas also appeared to dismiss the controversy with a similar tweet on Thursday, prior to the recording of McCarthy being made public.

“29 wks from now Republicans will have the majority and Kevin McCarthy will be Speaker of the House,” Gonzales said.

The California GOP, meanwhile, is similarly standing by McCarthy, per the San Francisco Chronicle. McCarthy is scheduled to give a keynote address at the state GOP convention this weekend.

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), a top Trump ally, did express criticism of McCarthy on Friday, though Gaetz has been critical of McCarthy’s leadership in the past.