Kevin McCarthy learns that you can catch fire if you try to make everyone happy, especially after a rebellion.
Why it matters: The House Republican leader hoped to use this year to build toward taking the majority by 2022, but his efforts to bridge the divisions between the parties over the siege of the Capitol are causing him to take heat from every direction. and his status both with the public and within his party.
The latest evidence: McCarthy’s digital director, Caleb Smith, sent an explosive email to a group of GOP communications officers on Saturday afternoon asking him to support his boss.
- The subject line read, “{GOP-New-Media} Retweet Request”, according to a copy of the email obtained by Axios.
- Smith wrote, “HuffPost and the Blue Checks came out in full force today in an effort to twist Leader McCarthy’s words in an attempt to divide America even further. They deserve to be called out. Would you help push back? greatly appreciate by retweeting this: https://twitter.com/GOPLeader/status/1353057765015449610. “
What they say: “We eat sh * t for breakfast, lunch and dinner now,” a McCarthy employee told Axios. The assistant asked for anonymity to speak freely about his boss’s situation.
The pressure mounts on McCarthy financially, politically and publicly.
- Corporate donors freeze him for contesting the vote of the electoral college on January 6.
- The media berated him for initially saying that “the president bears responsibility” for the Capitol attack, but changed it last week by saying, “I don’t believe he provoked it, if you listen to what he said during the meeting.”
- McCarthy was also touched for saying in an interview this weekend that “everyone” is responsible for the political temperature in the country.
- Meanwhile, the pro-Trump wing of his conference is angry with him for not condemning Representative Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) More forcefully after voting to impeach Trump.
Driving the news: McCarthy explained his comments on Thursday during an interview with van Susteren this weekend. He also signaled limits to his support of Cheney, the conference president and House Republican No. 3.
- “Look, I support her, but I’m also concerned,” he said, adding that there are “a lot of questions” that she will have to answer at a conference meeting later this week.