Less than one week after the January 6 insurrection House Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy was interviewed by a local California radio station and revealed that President Donald Trump admitted to bearing “some responsibility” for the violent and deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol.
“I say he has responsibility,” McCarthy told KERN on January 12, 2021, as CNN’s K-FILE reports, calling it “a little-noticed local radio interview.”
“He told me personally that he does have some responsibility,” McCarthy declared. “I think a lot of people do.”
McCarthy in that interview also called for a bipartisan investigation, which he subsequently blocked, leading to the formation of the current Select Committee on the January 6 Attack.
CNN adds that one day earlier McCarthy made similar remarks on a private conference call with House Republicans. Here’s a portion of a readout CNN obtained:
“Let me be clear to you and I have been very clear to the President. He bears responsibility for his words and actions. No if ands or buts,” McCarthy said on January 11, 2021. “I asked him personally today if he holds responsibility for what happened. If he feels bad about what happened. He told me he does have some responsibility for what happened. But he needs to acknowledge that.”
Here’s the audio of McCarthy’s January 12 remarks to KERN, not included in CNN’s report but posted on social media by K-FILE: