Kevin McCarthy Claims He ‘Never’ Said He Wanted Trump to Resign, Despite Audio Proving He Did

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said on Friday he “never” said he believed former President Donald Trump should have resigned in the days after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

McCarthy made the claim a day after audio played by MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow proved he in fact told Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) he wanted Trump gone before end of his term in office.

CBS News reporter Musadiq Bidar shared video of McCarthy Friday evening asking people to ignore their own eyes and ears.

“It was told that I was asking the president resign. That never took place, nor did it happen,” McCarthy told reporters. “On a phone call right after Jan. 6, I was asked by Liz Cheney about the 25th Amendment, and to explain what else would happen.”

McCarthy claimed he was simply “walking through different scenarios,” and called the response to the call “overblown.”

Kevin McCarthy told Rep. Cheney that he’s going to tell President Trump “it would be my recommendation you should resign.”

Now he says “I never asked the President to resign and I never thought that he should resign. pic.twitter.com/NutcI7nLzW

— Musadiq Bidar (@Bidar411) April 23, 2022

Asked point blank if he said he ever thought Trump should resign, McCarthy said he did not.

“I have never asked the president to resign,” McCarthy said, adding he “never” thought Trump should have left office early after the Capitol was ransacked by a pro-Trump mob.

“What I was asked on a phone call was about the process of the 25th Amendment,” he claimed. “It was never the process to ask President Trump to resign.”

McCarthy blamed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) for the Capitol riot, and quickly pivoted to discussing gas prices and drugs flowing across the southern border.

The man who is presumably next up to lead the House as speaker was not being honest, as the phone call he spoke about with Cheney was recorded and released on Thursday.

After the New York Times reported Thursday McCarthy wanted Trump out with fewer than two weeks left in his presidency, the California Republican disputed the reporting.

However, he told Cheney on Jan. 10 of 2021 he wanted to ask the former president to resign, per the audio record.

While discussing a hypothetical conversation with Trump, McCarthy told Cheney he would tell him “it will be my recommendation you should resign.”

McCarthy added, “I mean, that would be my take. But I don’t think he would take it. But I don’t know.”

Hear a snippet of McCarthy’s exchange with Cheney above, via MSNBC.