Kevin McCarthy heard on tape saying he would urge Trump to resign after Capitol riot

On Thursday, The New York Times released an audio recording that apparently revealed that U.S. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy had planned to get former President Donald Trump to resign following the January 6 Capitol riot.

In the conversation, the Republican congressman told a group of Republican leaders that he did not think Trump would step down voluntarily. 

McCarthy added that he contemplated encouraging Congress to have the then-president impeached yet again, arguing that he believed the measure would pass both the House and Senate.

“I’m seriously thinking of having that conversation with him tonight,” McCarthy noted. “From what I know of him – I mean, you guys know him too – do you think he would ever back away?”

McCarthy went on to add that he would let Trump know of his plans to set off an impeachment trial if he refused to resign.

“I think this will pass, and that would be my recommendation you should resign,” McCarthy went on. “That would be my take, but I don’t think he would take it, but I don’t know.” Previously, McCarthy denied ever having the conversation, pointing to an earlier report by the New York Times and characterizing it as “totally false and wrong.”

But the new audio, which seems to corroborate the original story, was released at a later date by NYT journalists Johnathan Martin and Alexander Burns, who together are authoring This Will Not Pass, a story of the 2020 presidential election. 

In another recording that was published on Friday by the New York Times, which the outlet says was recorded during a private House GOP meeting on January 11, 2021, McCarthy said that Trump acknowledged he bore some responsibility for the attack.

“I asked him personally today, does he hold responsibility for what happened?” McCarthy noted. “Does he feel bad about what happened? He told me he does have some responsibility for what happened and he’d need to acknowledge that.”