House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s latest denial fell apart in record time.
McCarthy on Thursday denied a New York Times report that said he told other lawmakers he would call on then-President Donald Trump to resign in the days after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, which had been carried out by his supporters.
But audio released shortly afterward by the Times shows otherwise.
“The only discussion I would have with him is that I think [impeachment] will pass, and it would be my recommendation you resign,” he said in a Jan. 10, 2021, phone call with GOP leaders.
He added that he didn’t think Trump would take his advice, “but I don’t know.”
The Times report by Alexander Burns and Jonathan Martin was based on passages in their new book, “This Will Not Pass.”
In a statement earlier in the day, McCarthy called the report “totally false and wrong,” and his spokesperson told the Times that “McCarthy never said he’d call Trump to say he should resign.”
Here’s the audio from a Republican leadership call obtained by Burns and Martin: