(Headline USA) House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., reportedly received a standing ovation during a meeting with House Republicans this week, even after leaked audio recordings confirmed he disparaged former President Donald Trump.
Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., told reporters after the meeting that Republicans rallied behind McCarthy.
“Standing ovation, and Kevin will be Speaker,” Mace said.
Rep. Jay Obernolte, R-Calif., confirmed Mace’s account and said the conference is “satisfied” with McCarthy’s explanation of the audio recordings.
In the recordings, which were obtained and reported on by the New York Times, McCarthy questioned whether Trump should step down from the White House after the Jan. 6 Capitol protests and urged Republican leaders to monitor the public statements of Republicans close to him, including Reps. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., and Mo Brooks, R-Ala.
“The country is too crazy,” McCarthy can be heard saying. “I do not want to look back and think we caused something or we missed something and someone got hurt. I don’t want to play politics with any of that.”
McCarthy has denied saying he would ask Trump to resign, and said he would continue to defend himself against the media’s attacks.
However, not every Republican is satisfied with his response. Gaetz blasted McCarthy and said his behavior is that of “weak men, not leaders.”
“On the bright side, you no longer have to be a lobbyist with a $5,000 check to know what McCarthy … really think[s],” he continued. “You just have to listen to [his] own words as [he] disparage[s] Trump and the Republicans in Congress who fought for him.”
— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) April 26, 2022
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., agreed and said McCarthy owes some of his colleagues an apology.
“I said that I would like to hear an apology because I’ve had to be held accountable … for my words,” Greene told Fox News.
“It’s appropriate at times that we show humility, and that’s a good thing to apologize to one another when we have wronged one another and said something we shouldn’t say.”
