In the aftermath of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, then-Senate Majority Leader McConnell reportedly sought to have Trump removed from the Biden inauguration guest list because he “felt he could not give Trump another opportunity to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power.” But House but House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) rejected the plans, Politico reports, citing an excerpt of a new book by ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl.
In the book, “Betrayal,” Karl writes that “McConnell wanted the four congressional leaders to tell Trump he had been disinvited from the constitutionally mandated event.” But McCarthy refused to go along with the plan, “arguing it would be an important message of unity” to have Trump be at the Capitol for the official transfer of power,” according to Politico
Despite McCarthy’s objections, a top McConnell adviser told Trump’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, that the Republican leader wanted to disinvite him from the inauguration. Then, McCarthy separately informed the White House that McConnell wanted to disinvite the outgoing president from the event.
In response, Trump took to Twitter to announce that he “had decided” not to attend the inauguration.
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That tweet was the final one posted on his Twitter account before he was banned from the platform, Politico noted in the report.
Karl’s book is set to be released on Tuesday.
