Heated Trump Call With McCarthy Shows His Refusal To Call Off Rioters

While his supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol, Donald Trump accused White House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy of caring less about the election than the rioters did during a phone call between the two.

“Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are,” he said to McCarthy.

CNN reports that multiple Republicans who were briefed on the call told the outlet that McCarthy spoke to Trump from inside the Capitol, asking him to call off his supporters. Trump’s comment set off a shouting match between Trump and McCarthy.

At one point during the heated exchange, McCarthy asked Trump, “Who the f*ck do you think you are talking to?” McCarthy told the former president that rioters were attempting to break into his office through the windows during the conversation, impressing upon Trump the seriousness of the situation.

Republican Congressmen believe the conversation’s details showed that he had no intention of intervening in the situation and said it amounted to a dereliction of his duties as president.

“I think it speaks to the former President’s mindset,” said Rep. Anthony Gonzalez. “He was not sorry to see his unyieldingly loyal vice president or the Congress under attack by the mob he inspired. In fact, it seems he was happy about it or at the least enjoyed the scenes that were horrifying to most Americans across the country.”

Gonzalez is an Ohio Republican who voted in favor of impeaching Trump last month.

The comment about the rioters caring more about the election than McCarthy was first mentioned by Republican lawmaker Jaime Herrera Beutler in a town hall earlier this week.

Herrera Beutler was also one of the ten Republicans who voted to impeach Trump last month. 

Trump did not ask his supporters to go home until hours after the attack when he asked them to “go home in peace.”