The least profitable Home speaker in historical past—the one one to be ousted—is taking trip of his revenge agenda to take a stab at rewriting historical past to someway make himself the hero. That features a Georgetown College occasion known as “How Sturdy Is Our Democracy? With Kevin McCarthy.” Politico reviews that regardless of that title, at “a time when each Democrats and Republicans—for very totally different causes—warn that ‘democracy is on the poll’ in 2024, he didn’t appear to have that stage of concern concerning the stakes.”
McCarthy has been attempting to place himself as some type of elder statesman for the GOP from simply concerning the second he bought fired from the job. He’s going to have a number of issues promoting the concept that he’s a severe man with severe concepts, beginning with the truth that even earlier than he was booted from the speakership, he was presiding over the least productive Congress in generations.
One other downside is that he’s, at coronary heart, only a petty man. On the identical Georgetown occasion that was imagined to be about our democracy, McCarthy simply couldn’t resist taking a potshot at Rep. Matt Gaetz, the Florida chaos agent who engineered McCarthy’s ouster.
“I’ll provide the fact why I’m not speaker,” McCarthy whined. “It is as a result of one individual, a member of Congress, needed me to cease an ethics grievance as a result of he slept with a 17-year-old … Did he do it or not? I don’t know.”
Sure, that’s a really severe political chief talking. The most important downside for McCarthy’s legacy as a statesman, nonetheless, is that he’s nonetheless bought his wagon firmly hitched to the largest inner risk the nation has confronted for the reason that Civil Battle: Donald Trump.
That features diminishing the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol and Trump’s function in instigating it.
“What occurred on January 6 was improper; I don’t apologize for anybody who did it,” he advised the Georgetown gathering, however as Politico’s Ben Jacobs reviews, “it was a critique of those that stormed the Capitol, not these, together with Trump, who spent months egging on MAGA loyalists to take action.”
He remained firmly Trump’s man all through, not by defending a few of Trump’s most outrageous acts however by deflecting their significance:
He was diplomatic when requested about extra controversial elements of Trump’s file. “I didn’t know that he had a faux electors scheme,” McCarthy mentioned when requested concerning the former president’s actions within the instant aftermath of the 2020 election. When requested about Trump’s references to immigrants poisoning the blood of our nation, McCarthy mentioned “I’ve by no means heard him say that.” He added ultimately, “I don’t assume that’s what President Trump believes in my time round him. By no means heard it.” Trump has repeatedly used the phrase in latest months, together with in a March interview on Fox Information.
McCarthy’s so connected to Trump, he’s even appearing as a form of spokesperson for him to The New York Instances.
“Trump goes to need a crew participant, and that is going to be about including worth to the ticket,” he mentioned, talking concerning the seek for a vice presidential candidate and crucial consider that choice: who can elevate some huge cash. Identical to McCarthy has carried out as a high fundraiser for the celebration.
Hmmm … A “crew participant” who can “add worth to the ticket?” Perhaps McCarthy’s campaigning for extra than simply his legacy.
RELATED STORIES:
Kevin McCarthy sucked as speaker, however he’s good at revenge
The conflict between Matt Gaetz and Kevin McCarthy is way from over
The fired home speaker’s hilarious try at an ‘elder statesman’ makeover
Marketing campaign Motion
