House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy reportedly worked to sink the re-election campaign of Madison Cawthorn while trying to weed out “controversial Republicans” who might cause disruptions to his agenda.
The Washington Post reports that McCarthy “worked this spring to deny Cawthorn a second term in office,” saying he had “lost my trust.”
They note that Cawthorn, endorsed by former President Donald Trump, had at the time accused members of Congress of using drugs and inviting him to an “orgy.”
“Top allies of Kevin McCarthy, the House Republican leader, worked this spring to deny Cawthorn a second term in office,” they write.
Cawthorn was defeated in his GOP primary back in May after multiple scandals surfaced and a Democrat political action committee known as the American Muckrakers PAC began targeting him by releasing salacious videos.
Kevin McCarthy Worked to Defeat Madison Cawthorn, Other MAGA Candidates
Kevin McCarthy’s well-planned targeting didn’t simply focus on Madison Cawthorn. The House Republican leader also sought to keep other MAGA candidates out of Congress.
"Targeting Cawthorn was part of a larger behind-the-scenes effort by top GOP donors and senior strategists to purge the influence of Republican factions that seek disruption and grandstanding, often at the expense of their GOP colleagues,” they write.
The report indicates McCarthy and his political machine were working to “systematically weed out GOP candidates” they felt might give him “trouble” as House Speaker if Republicans regain control after the midterms.
It was also an effort to eliminate conservative candidates in districts where more moderate candidates were perceived to have a better chance of winning.
McCarthy Has Gone After Trump Allies Before
Audio surfaced earlier this year in which Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) criticized former President Trump and some of his staunchest allies in Congress.
“Well, he’s putting people in jeopardy, and he doesn’t need to be doing this,” McCarthy said of Rep. Matt Gaetz and the Florida congressman’s comments about the 2020 election. “We saw what people would do in the Capitol, you know?”
McCarthy also claimed that America First Reps. referring to mainstream Republicans who refused to question the election results as “anti-Trump” was “serious stuff” that “has to stop.”
“Can’t they take their Twitter accounts away, too?” he remarked.
Fox News host Tucker Carlson pointed out that McCarthy’s comments were nearly indiscernible from any Democrat or left-wing media hack.
“Quote, ‘Can’t they take their Twitter accounts away too?’ Those are the tape-recorded words of Congressman Kevin McCarthy, a man who in private, turns out, sounds like an MSNBC contributor,” Carlson said.
Carlson went on to warn that McCarthy as Speaker would mean the Democrats would have an ally in the House leader.
“That would mean you would have a Republican Congress led by a puppet of the Democratic Party,” he said.
Not long afterward, more audiotapes surfaced and showed McCarthy discussing removing Trump from office and blaming him for the Capitol riot.
“Look, what the president did is atrocious and totally wrong,” he said in a recording dated January 8th.
McCarthy is also heard on the audiotapes discussing the 25th Amendment, but noting it would take “too long” to implement.
The 25th Amendment is a constitutional provision allowing for the removal of the President should he be deemed medically, or as some were suggesting at the time, mentally, unfit.
Allies of McCarthy tell the Washington Post his efforts to defeat Cawthorn have less to do with his political leanings and more about wanting lawmakers willing to go along to get along.
They cite his support for Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), a MAGA Republican who he has suggested will have her committee assignments restored in a GOP majority, as evidence.
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