Michael Fanone Rips Kevin McCarthy Over Jan. 6 Audio Firestorm: Only Interested in ‘Himself’ and ‘Speakership’

Former U.S. Capitol Police Officer Michael Fanone tore into House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) over the emergence of his comments after January 6th.

Fanone, who was injured in the storming of the Capitol before he became a CNN law enforcement analyst, spoke to Brianna Keilar on Wednesday about the new McCarthy audio released by New York Times reporters Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns. McCarthy was recorded blasting the incendiary conduct among his fellow Republicans after January 6th, and these tapes come after McCarthy was caught in a lie about how he said he would push former President Donald Trump to resign over January 6.

Fanone slammed McCarthy over the weekend, but as he reacted to the new audio, he said “McCarthy got it right” by trying to tamp down the rhetoric from the “fringe” after the Capitol riot by Trump’s supporters.

“Unfortunately, rather than pursuing that moment, McCarthy opted to do some political maneuvering,” Fanone said. “I think that Kevin McCarthy’s interests are solely in himself and attaining the speakership. So rather than doing what was best for the country, what was best for Americans and our democracy, he did he what was best for Kevin McCarthy to attain the speakership.”

Fanone went on to say he wasn’t surprised to see McCarthy denying the things he was caught saying on released recordings.

I don’t expect anything less than — from McCarthy or from GOP leadership for that matter. You know, the Kevin McCarthys and Mitch McConnells of the world, I don’t think they care about individual Americans. They care about their political careers. They have repressed any ability to experience real human emotion. And that’s unfortunate. And the other thing of note, though, in that conversation, Kevin McCarthy was speaking with Steve Scalise. I would have liked to have seen Steve Scalise speak out a whole hell of a lot more after January 6th, being that, like myself, he’s also a victim of political violence…It’s disappointing.

Keilar went on by asking Fanone what he would say to McCarthy if he could meet with him now. Fanone reminded her that he did meet with McCarthy last year, but he described that meeting as unproductive, saying “I think the meeting was only held because of the pressure that was being applied by the media to meet with me…It was really just for the optics.”

Watch above, via CNN.