GOP war deepens after Trump attacked Mitch McConnell for calling it an ‘insurrection’

  • Kevin McCarthy has conceded that January 6th was a ‘violent insurrection,’ saying he agreed with Mitch McConnell’s description of that day
  • ‘No one would disagree with that,’ McCarthy told reporters on Capitol Hill
  • The RNC issued a statement after Friday’s censure of Capitol riot panel members Cheney and Kinzinger calling 1/6 ‘legitimate political discourse’ 
  • McConnell hit back Tuesday in a statement  calling Jan. 6th ‘a violent insurrection for the purpose of trying to prevent the peaceful transfer of power’
  • Trump responded Wednesday and said McConnell does ‘not represent the voice of the Republican Party’ 
  • Trump repeatedly calls McConnell a ‘RINO,’ and on Friday hit at McConnell and former VP Mike Pence in a statement 
  • Trump hit back with a new statement saying McConnell ‘does not speak for the Republican Party’ but misspelled ‘incompetent’ 

House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy has conceded that January 6th was a ‘violent insurrection,’ saying he agreed with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s description of that day.

‘No one would disagree with that,’ McCarthy told reporters on Capitol Hill on Wednesday.

His clarification comes after McCarthy was mocked by Democrats for walking away from an ABC News reporter who was asking him about the Republican National Committee censure of Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney for serving on the committee investigating the insurrection.

The GOP leader was caught on camera walking away from the reporter who was trying to question him in the halls of the Capitol.

But McCarthy later talked with NBC News and said that anyone who broke into the Capitol on January 6th was not taking part in ‘legitimate political discourse.’ He also said he didn’t think the censure of Cheney and Kinzinger – the two Republicans serving on the panel – was about that.

‘I think anybody, we all know this, who entered this building, that rioted, is not legitimate political discourse,’ he said. ‘But I don’t think that’s what the RNC was talking about when you talk to them.’

McCarthy suggested the ‘legitimate discourse’ referred to alternative electors whom the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot has subpoenaed, even though he said they were in Florida during the riot.

Asked whether he agreed with the decision to censure Kinzinger and Cheney, McCarthy said: ‘I think there’s a reason why Adam is not running again. I think there’s a reason why at the end of the day, Liz would have a hard time winning here if she runs, and I don’t think she runs.’

Kinzinger is not seeking re-election but Cheney is. She has outraised her GOP primary opponent, who has the backing of former President Donald Trump. Cheney, however, has the support of other top-name Republicans, including George W. Bush, Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney.

McCarthy’s comments come as the Republican Party faces an internecine battle over Trump’s attempt to hang on to the presidency – from his false claims that he won the election to his defense of the MAGA crowd that stormed the Capitol on January 6th to try and stop the certification of Joe Biden’s victory.

Trump tore into McConnell on Wednesday and said he does ‘not represent the voice of the Republican Party’ after the Senate Minority Leader called January 6 an ‘insurrection’ and criticized the censure of Kinzinger and Cheney.

The former president attacked his GOP nemesis for doing nothing to stop the Biden administration, the ‘fraudulent election’ or the ‘persecution of political opponents’ in a scathing statement on Wednesday – deepening divisions in a party on the brink of civil war. 

‘Mitch McConnell does not speak for the Republican Party, and does not represent the views of the vast majority of its voters, Trump said Wednesday.

‘He did nothing to fight for his constituents and stop the most fraudulent election in American history. And he does nothing to stop the lawless Biden Administration, the invasion of our Borders, rising Inflation, Unconstitutional mandates, the persecution of political opponents, fact finding on the incompentent [sic] Afghanistan withdrawal, the giving away our energy independence, etc., which is all because of the fraudulent election. Instead, he bails out the Radical Left and the RINOs.’

Trump responded just a few hours after McConnell brushed off Trump’s name-calling, joked that ‘Old Crow’ was his ‘favorite bourbon’ and insisted no Republicans wanted him ousted from leadership.

McConnell even claimed in an interview with the Washington Examiner that the nickname is catching on inside his own Capitol office, underscoring his casual attitude about the insult. ‘Aren’t we using Old Crow as my moniker now? It was Henry Clay’s favorite bourbon,’ McConnell said, referencing the ‘Great Compromiser’ in a comment to an aide.

Trump, 75, and McConnell, 79,  have been in a long-running feud, even after McConnell helped push through Trump’s court picks and tax cuts. McConnell denounced Trump after the Capitol riot, even as he voted to acquit him during his second impeachment.

McConnell clarified that he thought January 6 was an ‘insurrection’ after the Republican National Committee passed a resolution that said the House select committee’s probe of the Capitol riot was persecution of those engaged in ‘legitimate political discourse’ when it censured Cheney and Kinzinger last Friday.

Amid the growing fallout from the resolution, RNC chair Ronna McDaniel has said repeatedly the statement about ‘legitimate’ discourse was not mean to refer to those who battled with D.C. and U.S. Capitol Police on January 6th.

‘Anybody who broke in and caused damage, that was not called for. Those people, we’ve said from the very beginning, should be in jail,’ said McCarthy, who denounced the riot when it happened but soon moved to try to heal a breach with Trump, in comments to CNN.

Said McDaniel in an op-ed following the fallout: ‘I have repeatedly condemned the violence that occurred at the Capitol on January 6th and do so again today.’

Cheney, one of a number of Republicans Trump is seeking to take down in primaries, condemned the move against her.

‘The leaders of the Republican Party have made themselves willing hostages to a man who admits he tried to overturn a presidential election and suggests he would pardon Jan. 6th defendants, some of whom have been charged with seditious conspiracy,’ she tweeted in response.

It is all playing out during an off-year when Republicans hope to score big gains and retake the House and Senate amid President Joe Bien’s low approval numbers.