Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) was "stunned" that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) flew down to visit former President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago just a few weeks after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, the congresswoman said during an episode of David Axelrod's podcast The Axe Files, which was released Monday morning. "I could not imagine any justification for doing that," she added.
The two GOP lawmakers are no longer in league with each other — McCarthy has aligned with Trump, while Cheney is trying to carve out an anti-Trump contingent among congressional Republicans — so Cheney's comments weren't surprising. But she did reveal that McCarthy's trip was when she realized House Republicans wouldn't "be able to move forward and focus on substance and policy because we had leaders who were embracing the president who had just been impeached," adding that the idea that McCarthy, who had previously said Trump bore responsibility for the riot, was "essentially pleading" with the former president to "somehow come back into the fold or whatever it was he was doing ... was inexcusable." Listen to a clip from the interview below.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
The battle over Jamaican rumUnder The Radar The spirit that defines the Caribbean is at the middle of a legal fight
-
Do student loans affect a credit score?the explainer Repaying loans on time will strengthen your credit — but paying late will hurt it
-
Cherry blossom season: Washington diners’ happy timefeature The five best spots to enjoy the festivities
-
Waltz takes blame for texts amid calls for Hegseth ousterSpeed Read Democrats are calling for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and national security adviser Michael Waltz to step down
-
Judge: Nazis treated better than Trump deporteesspeed read U.S. District Judge James Boasberg reaffirmed his order barring President Donald Trump from deporting alleged Venezuelan gang members
-
US officials share war plans with journalist in group chatSpeed Read Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg was accidentally added to a Signal conversation about striking Yemen
-
Canada's Mark Carney calls snap electionspeed read Voters will go to the polls on April 28 to pick a new government
-
Musk set to earn billions from Trump administrationSpeed Read Musk's company SpaceX will receive billions in federal government contracts in the coming years
-
Reports: Musk to get briefed on top secret China war planSpeed Read In a major expansion of Elon Musk's government role, he will be briefed on military plans for potential war with China
-
Trump signs order to end Education DepartmentSpeed Read The move will return education 'back to the states where it belongs,' the president says
-
Trump pauses $175M for Penn over trans athleteSpeed Read The president is withholding federal funds from the University of Pennsylvania because it once allowed a transgender swimmer to compete
