A Kevin McCarthy aide says 'we're eating s--- for breakfast, lunch and dinner' over fallout from Trump's 2nd impeachment and the Capitol riot
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is facing a rocky start to this term in Congress.
He's been criticized for his response to the Capitol Siege and is dealing with division in his caucus.
One aide told Axios that "we're eating sh*t for breakfast, lunch and dinner right now."
House Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy is beginning his tenure in the 117th Congress between a rock and a hard place, as he continues to deal with the repercussions from the House's second impeachment of former President Donald Trump
McCarthy is facing criticism for the shifting stances he's taken on what responsibility Trump holds for the deadly insurrection on the US Capitol. He also has to contend with warring factions within his caucus.
One aide evocatively described McCarthy's position to Axios, saying he's "eating sh*t for breakfast, lunch and dinner right now."
Read more: Trump and the GOP may be headed for an expensive divorce fight over donor and voter data
McCarthy faced a firestorm of backlash for telling Gray TV host Greta Van Susteren that "everybody across this country" was partly responsible for the Capitol insurrection.
"I also think everybody across this country has some responsibility," McCarthy told Van Susteren. "Think about four years ago after President Trump was sworn in. What happened the very next day? The title was resisted with people walking in the streets, Maxine Waters saying to confront people, confront them in restaurants."
The event the day after Trump's 2017 inauguration that McCarthy referred to, the Women's March on Washington, was an peaceful protest with no violence.
McCarthy also has to manage divides within the Republican caucus. A number of the more conservative members of the caucus are seeking to expel Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney, the third highest-ranking member of the House GOP, for her vote to impeach Trump.
In the interview with Van Susteren, McCarthy said while he still supports Cheney, he "has concerns" about her voting to impeach Trump without notifying or consulting with him first.
In an effort to shore up support among his caucus, Axios reported that a member of McCarthy's staff sent out a mass email to communications staff in other House GOP offices asking them to retweet a message in which McCarthy stated: "From the minute the Capitol was attacked, I called for the rioters to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and have repeatedly said that it is incumbent upon every person in America to help lower the temperature of our political discourse."
McCarthy's message also criticized the media in this tweets, blaming news outlets for the increased division in the US and stating, "The distortions of my comments are completely disingenuous."
—Alayna Treene (@alaynatreene) January 24, 2021
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