How anyone within the Republican party can trust each other is a mystery to many, especially considering the latest round of trash-talking and name-dragging happening between Donald Trump and his one-time friend, GOP Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.
The two seemed chummy in late January, despite McCarthy initially placing blame for the Jan. 6th insurrection on Trump’s shoulders. McCarthy endorsed a Congress-enacted censure of the former president a week after he incited a violent mob to attack Capitol Hill (though he was against the idea of impeachment). A few weeks later, McCarthy paid a visit to Trump at Mar-a-Lago to reportedly discuss how to strengthen the Republican party in upcoming elections. More recently, McCarthy’s seemed to walk back his condemnation of Trump’s involvement in the Capitol Hill riots, threatening telecom companies should they comply with the request for phone records made by the special committee investigating the attacks and refusing to cooperate with the committee altogether. McCarthy’s about-face reads like a last-ditch effort to get Trump firmly on his side as he aims to make a play for Nancy Pelosi’s seat should the GOP take the House in a year’s time, but it sounds like he’s going to need to do more than just tweet his faux outrage if he hopes to call Trump a friend.
My statement on Democrats asking companies to violate federal law: pic.twitter.com/XELEVNbx65
— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) August 31, 2021
That’s because, according to a new book by Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Robert Costa, Trump has been pretty vocal about his distaste for McCarthy. CNN shared a preview of the book, reporting that Trump was still angry with the House Minority leader for turning on him after the Jan. 6th debacle.
“This guy called me every single day, pretended to be my best friend, and then, he fucked me,” Trump reportedly said. “He’s not a good guy.”
As for McCarthy’s trip to Mar-a-Lago, which seemed to imply the two were on good terms again, Trump had this to say:
“Kevin came down to kiss my ass and wants my help to win the House back.”
Whew, with friends like these, who needs enemies? Right?