Trump Dismisses Reports of Kevin McCarthy’s ‘Tough Talk’ on January 6th as an ‘Inferiority Complex’
Screenshot via YouTube
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) suffers from an “inferiority complex,” former President Donald Trump has said in a newly-revealed excerpt from the upcoming This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America’s Future, a book on the Capitol riot and President Joe Biden’s first year in office, written by New York Times reporters Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns.
Trump’s harsh words for McCarthy were in response to a question about McCarthy claiming he challenges the president more in private than in public.
McCarthy’s “tough talk” after Jan. 6 was just talk, Trump said in the excerpt from the book shared on Thursday by New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman. McCarthy has been facing pressure from within his own party after Burns and Martin revealed audio of conversations McCarthy had after the riot, condemning Trump and accusing him of “inciting” the crowd in Washington D.C. with his speech preceding the riot where he continued to insist the 2020 presidential election was rigged against him. McCarthy also suggested Trump resign from office just days after the riot.
McCarthy initially denied the Times’ reporting as completely false, but that has only added to pressure around the Republican.
Trump dismissed McCarthy’s private words, as well as reports that he had “clashed” with him during a phone call while the Capitol riot was underway. McCarthy claimed last year to be the first person to call Trump after the riot, telling him to urge people to stop. Shortly after, Trump released a video telling supporters to “go home.”
Trump, asked by @alexburnsNYT and @jmartNYT about his actual conversations with McCarthy post-riot, had this to say 👇🏻 pic.twitter.com/a1SGbH7Qhb
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) April 28, 2022
“He wouldn’t say that,” Trump said of McCarthy supposedly clashing with him on the phone. Asked why McCarthy claims he talks “tougher” to Trump in private,” the former president bluntly diagnosed the Republican leader with an “inferiority complex.”
In the book excerpt, Trump also targets Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) for not strongly backing claims that the election was stolen.
“Had Mitch stuck with many members of the party who knew the election was rigged, I think we wouldn’t be at Mar-a-Lago,” he said.
