‘That’s Not What He Said!’ Jon Karl Accuses Chris Christie of Misrepresenting McCarthy Tapes in Heated Clash

ABC News’ Jon Karl and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie went head-to-head in an argument about House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) getting caught in a lie with his recorded comments after Jan. 6.

Karl and Christie collided on Sunday’s edition of This Week, as George Stephanopoulos asked his panel about the audio of McCarthy blasting Donald Trump after the former president’s supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol. McCarthy has repeatedly denied the core of the reporting into his remarks, even though audio tapes have shown McCarthy floating the possibility of Trump’s resignation.

During the conversation, Christie objected to how McCarthy’s recorded comments were presented by the media, arguing that the House minority leader was merely outlining various political possibilities at the time.

Karl responded to Christie by telling him, “I don’t think you’re characterizing what was on that tape accurately. There’s no way to listen to that tape and think that Kevin McCarthy told the truth.”

“You hear Kevin McCarthy say he’s going to call Donald Trump and his recommendation would be that he resign,” Karl noted.

“That’s not what he said!” Christie retorted. The two proceeded to talk over each other as Karl stressed “He didn’t say what you said.”

“Yes he did,” Christie shot back. “He said what if the Senate has the votes to convict…”

“That’s not a quote!” Karl called out. “That’s not a quote from the tape.”

“That’s what the conversation was,” Christie countered before dismissing the story as a D.C. insider news.

Karl continued the conversation by pointing out that the matter presents a “credibility issue” for McCarthy, saying “Every quote in that original story is backed up by the tapes. Every single quote.”

“McCarthy has come to the world and said it was all fake news, it’s not true,” Karl went on. “Maybe you think that doesn’t matter. Maybe it doesn’t matter politically but there is a question of credibility. The denial was not accurate. The denial was, in fact, a lie.”

Watch above, via ABC.

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