Kevin McCarthy Was *This* Close

There's the audio - from @jmartNYT and @alexburnsNYT's book--

Kevin McCarthy: "The only discussion I would have with him is that I think this will pass, and it would be my recommendation you should resign."@maddow pic.twitter.com/ltDye7BTYG

— Lauren Peikoff (@laurenpeikoff) April 22, 2022

What a funny, revelatory day yesterday was! We progressed from "McCarthy and McConnell wanted Trump to resign/be impeached" to "McCarthy denies he ever said this" to "Lordy, there's tapes." It's almost as if House Minority Leader McCarthy was a gutless man with very little credibility. (I don't think this is really a surprise, is it?)

My question is--did he really think he'd follow through on asking Trump to resign, or what that just a thing he said to mollify GOP members who weren't....in on it? (I mean, Gaetz, Greene, Gosar, Gohmert...) Did he try to say this actually to Trump? (Trump seems to acknowledge in his recent speech to Heritage that he would have great ideas, only to have people suggest the 25th Amendment. That was something his constant Renfield, Lindsey Graham was in favor of, until he was against it.) 

I think this audio release is hilarious because McCarthy had to have known that Rep. Cheney was well aware of what he said and had likely shared it with the 1/6th Committee. This. Whole. Time. Other people also knew. It's also hilarious to me that he denied it, like, sure. If he denies it, everyone will believe him and love him and of course he'll be Speaker of the House when the majority flips. Of course. 

And if the latter thing doesn't happen, he'll wonder how he got "this close". I, however, wonder how he got "this close" to doing the right thing, and then--poof! His temporary spine melted right into his seat.  But I don't wonder about it a lot.