The recording was made during a House Republican leadership meeting in 2017. It was released hours after McCarthy had denied the episode in an audio statement.
At the January 10 meeting, Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney (who was at the time the chairwoman for the Republican Conference) asks McCarthy if Trump could resign.
"My gut tells me no. "I'm thinking about having that conversation tonight with him. McCarthy states that McCarthy hasn't spoken to McCarthy in two days.
Jonathan Martin and Alex Burns from the New York Times published the audio. They gave a detailed account of the meeting in an story published Thursday, adapted from their book "This Will not Pass." "
McCarthy tells his leadership team in the recording that the impeachment resolution being prepared by Democrats would pass both the House and the Senate.
McCarthy states, "The only conversation I would have is that I believe this will pass. It would be my recommendation that you resign." "That would be my opinion, but I doubt he would accept it. But I don’t know."
He mentions that he is afraid of being involved in conversations about "Pence Pardoning" and admits to having had discussions about the 25th Amendment which specifies how the president can be removed from office.
According to the Times story, McCarthy said that he had had it with "this guy". McCarthy also said to other House Republican colleagues that Trump was "atrocious" and "totally wrong" on the day of the attack. Trump was to blame for the riots at Capitol. With a Democratic impeachment resolution looming, he intended to tell Trump to resign.
"What he did was unacceptable. According to the Times, he stated that nobody can and should defend such an act.
McCarthy called the Times' reporting "totally false" and "wrong" in a statement published after the Times story was published on Thursday but before the audio was made available.
He wrote, "It is not surprising that the corporate media is obsessed to do everything it can in order to advance a liberal agenda." "This promotional book tour does not differ. "This promotional book tour is no different. If reporters were truly interested in truth, why would they request comment after the book has been printed?"
He went on to accuse the "corporate media" of trying to profit off of "manufactured political intrigue from politically-motivated sources."
McCarthy's office didn't respond to a request for comment on Thursday night.
Cheney spokesperson said that she didn't record or leak the tape.
"The select committee asked Kevin McCarthy to talk with us about these incidents but he has sofar declined," Cheney's spokesperson said in a statement. "Representative Cheney didn't record or leak the tape, and he doesn't know how the reporters obtained it."
McCarthy did share some of his frustrations with President Obama. He spoke on the House's floor on January 13, 2021 and said that "the president bears all responsibility for Wednesday's attack by mob rioters on Congress." When he saw the unfolding events, he should have immediately denounced and condemned the mob.
Later that month, he attempted to mend his relationship with Trump, who held immense power over the GOP base. He visited Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence and took pictures with him.
Soon after the audio was made public, Illinois Republican Adam Kinzinger stated that the Minority Leader should "ashamed".
"Question for Kevin McCarthy @GOPLeader...how do you honestly feel okay with all the lies?" Kinzinger tweeted.
The Times reported that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said to his advisers following the Capitol attack: "If this isn’t impeachable I don’t know what it is," in reference the upcoming impeachment votes. He predicted that there would be strong bipartisan support to convict Trump in the Senate. In the end, seven Senate Republicans voted against Trump's impeachment conviction. McConnell, however, argued that impeaching a former president was not constitutional.
McConnell spokesmen did not respond to a request for comment.
