Fearing that Democrats would use the January 6t insurrection against them in the 2022 election, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and his GOP allies have spent the better part of the months since the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol trying to come up with someone else to blame for the attack.
In the aftermath of the violent attack on the Capitol, McCarthy put the blame directly on then-President Donald Trump. The Republican leader even told fellow members during a conference call the week after the attack that it had nothing to do with Antifa.
However, after a few months, he has “evolved” back to the Trump message. Now his take is that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is the one to blame for the storming of the Capitol.
The strategy is a shameless attempt to avoid any accountability at the ballot box for the GOP in 2022.
But as Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) noted, if there were others to blame, why didn’t McCarthy call them on Jan. 6 to beg for help?
“Answer me this,” Swalwell posed. “If @GOPLeader McCarthy thinks anyone but Trump was responsible for January 6, why is Trump the ONLY person McCarthy contacted to call off the attack? McCarthy didn’t call @SpeakerPelosi or Antifa, etc to stop it. He knew then and he knows now.”
It’s an important question for McCarthy to answer as he continues to tear down the Jan. 6 committee. Members of his caucus are already calling for Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) and Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) to be expelled from the GOP caucus for agreeing to be Republicans on the select committee.
See Swalwell’s tweet below:
Answer me this: if @GOPLeader McCarthy thinks anyone but Trump was responsible for January 6, why is Trump the ONLY person McCarthy contacted to call off the attack? McCarthy didn’t call @SpeakerPelosi or Antifa, etc to stop it. He knew then and he knows now.
— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) August 1, 2021
Other Twitter users piled on:
McCarthy can be heard with @NorahODonnell restating words he spoke to Pres. Trump while the Capitol was under attack:
“I’ve spoken to the President, I asked him to talk to the nation to tell them to stop this…This has got to stop. This is unacceptable.”pic.twitter.com/dZOyt7uuIb— Paul Morrison (@chessclubgringo) August 2, 2021
And while the capitol was under attack, everyone was being evacuated to safe locations. However, there was NO effort made to evacuate the former president and move him to a safe location. That right there tells you who was behind it. And the Secret Service knows it.
— Breeze12357 (@breeze12357) August 1, 2021
Why did Kevin McCarthy (allegedly, per witnesses) insist that Trump needed to *communicate directly to the insurrectionists*, and tell them to stop?
(If he didn’t suspect Trump’s involvement, he would have asked only for reinforcements of the police.)https://t.co/iBrQwQlyvv
— Monty 🇺🇸Lincoln’s Speeches🇺🇸 Boa (@MontyBoa99) August 1, 2021
Furthermore, tfg’s reply was something along the lines of, “Well, Kevin, I guess they care more about the election than you do!”.
Look it up!!
Prove me wrong.— 🌊Protect Mueller, McIver, & Nasty Swamp Women (@PursuingMciver) August 2, 2021
What did they know?
When did they know it?
What did they do with that knowledge?They don’t want us to find the answers to these questions. It’s why they voted against the inquiry.
— Arcturus SaDiablo (@ASadiablo) August 1, 2021
Rep. Swalwell, are you taking about the same guy who wants to hit a woman, actually an 80 year old woman, and thinks that violence in women is so funny he said he jokes about it? The same guy?
— Lucia S. Martin (@LuciaSMartin1) August 1, 2021
He knew exactly who was responsible and so does America.
— Danielle Candela (@DanielleCandela) August 1, 2021
So True! pic.twitter.com/C2JhMxMjFM
— Karen Beard (@makeyrvoicehrd) August 2, 2021
Damn good point! McCarthy needs to be put under oath and sit through a question and answer session similar to what Hilary Clinton had to. Good enough for the Democrats, good enough for the Republicans.
— Dennis Noel (@DNoel97) August 1, 2021
