Former President Donald Trump and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) spoke on Jan. 6, and new details are now being revealed.
Lawmakers who were briefed on the call by McCarthy were told that Trump said on Jan. 6, “Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are,” according to CNN.
The network also reports that Trump was urged by the House minority leader to call off the protesters. During the call, the two got into a “shouting match,” CNN reports.
A Republican familiar with the call recalled McCarthy telling Trump at the time, “Who the f**k do you think you are talking to?” as protesters broke windows to his office.
An unnamed Republican lawmaker said, according to CNN, “He is not a blameless observer, he was rooting for them. On January 13, Kevin McCarthy said on the floor of the House that the President bears responsibility and he does.”
Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.) and other Republicans confirmed to CNN the conversation between McCarthy and Trump.
Beutler told CNN, “You have to look at what he did during the insurrection to confirm where his mind was at. That line right there demonstrates to me that either he didn’t care, which is impeachable, because you cannot allow an attack on your soil, or he wanted it to happen and was OK with it, which makes me so angry.”
JUST IN: In a new statement, Rep. Herrera Beutler confirms conversation between House Minority Leader McCarthy and fmr. President Trump on January 6; calls out other officials who were present to speak out pic.twitter.com/WrMqlvpyWx
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) February 13, 2021
In a statement on Friday, Beutler urged those who have details to come forward:
“To the patriots who were standing next to the former president as these conversations were happening, or even to the former vice president: if you have something to add here, now would be the time.”
Beutler told Billy Hallowell during a podcast that McCarthy is an “unapologetic supporter” of Trump and when he called Trump he said, “‘Hey, you basically need to get on TV, you need to call these people off.'”
She continued, “And the president’s response to him was ‘These aren’t my people, these are Antifa,’ which is not,” adding, “Kevin, to his credit, responded, ‘No, they just came through my window, my staff are running, these are your people, they have MAGA hats on.'”
The Republican lawmakers then said Trump made the remark suggesting the protesters who stormed the U.S. Capitol were “more concerned” about the election than McCarthy was.
On Saturday, Senate Democrats called on Beutler to testify in the trial following the reports.
— Jaime Herrera Beutler (@HerreraBeutler) February 13, 2021
Additionally, Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (R-Ohio) said he believes the phone call “speaks to the former President’s mindset.”
“He was not sorry to see his unyieldingly loyal vice president or the Congress under attack by the mob he inspired. In fact, it seems he was happy about it or at the least enjoyed the scenes that were horrifying to most Americans across the country,” Gonzalez said.
