周三，众议院共和党人支持少数党领袖凯文·麦卡锡为自己辩护音频记录浮出水面他指责前总统唐纳德·特朗普对1月6日的骚乱负责，并暗示一些共和党议员煽动暴力，应该被踢出社交媒体平台。
自20世纪90年代以来的第一次闭门会议纽约时报发布了录音在2021年1月10日的一次领导电话中，麦卡锡对特朗普和一些国会右翼成员提出了尖锐的批评，这位加州共和党人认为，在国会开会认证2020年选举结果时，他在国会大厦遇袭后，他是在假设性地说话，并走过各种“情景”。
“他说，你知道，他们在推测不同的情况，”众议员罗伯特·阿德霍尔特，R-Ala。，告诉ABC新闻。“他说他们列出了可能发生的不同事情，他说他从未指控任何人任何事情。”
“我认为会议的大多数人都明白，”一名共和党成员告诉美国广播公司新闻，并补充说麦卡锡声称这些磁带“被纽约时报断章取义。”
多名议员告诉美国广播公司新闻，麦卡锡在讲话后受到了起立鼓掌和一轮掌声。
“我们正作为一个团队走到一起，”得克萨斯州共和党众议员罗尼·杰克逊(Ronny Jackson)告诉美国广播公司新闻(ABC News)，并补充说，共和党人不会“让泄露给媒体的录音带成为我们有更大事情要做的一部分。我们都在同一页上。”
尽管如此，他的解释并没有让一些人满意麦卡锡坚持不懈的批评者，包括佛罗里达州众议员马特·盖兹。
会后，当被问及是否对麦卡锡有信心时，盖兹回答说，“不会比平时更多或更少。”
盖兹批评了洛杉矶共和党众议员史蒂夫·斯卡利斯。就《纽约时报》获得的录音发表评论。这位路易斯安那州共和党人表示，盖兹在国会大厦骚乱后的电视露面中攻击众议员利兹·切尼(R-Wyo)的言论“可能是非法的”。
消息人士告诉ABC新闻，在盖兹就这些评论与斯卡利斯对质后，盖兹和斯卡利斯之间的讨论迅速变得“激烈”。消息人士说，盖兹直接要求斯卡利斯解释他称盖兹的评论“潜在非法”的理由。
在这一点上，共和党众议员马乔里泰勒格林，R-Ga。，甚至插话说，要求斯卡利斯向盖兹道歉。据知情人士透露，道歉并没有提供。
麦卡锡在录音中也批评了盖兹，并讨论了格林以及共和党代表德克萨斯州的路易·戈梅特和阿拉巴马州的莫·布鲁克斯。
对于特朗普，麦卡锡说，“我已经受够了这个家伙，”并在录音电话中告诉其他共和党领导人，“他的所作所为是不可接受的。”
他还表示，他将告诉特朗普“我建议你辞职”，并表示，应该从推特上删除一些在国会大厦骚乱中发表煽动性评论的共和党人。
“他们不能把自己的推特账号也拿走吗?”他说，根据音频。
麦卡锡最初否认了《纽约时报》的报道，称其为“虚假”在记者发表这些评论的录音后，麦卡锡告诉共和党议员，他已经与前总统特朗普通话，他仍然支持麦卡锡。
麦卡锡后来告诉福克斯新闻频道，他从未让川普辞职。
“他基本上说，我们需要保持正轨，继续推进我们正在做的事情，”佐治亚州共和党众议员巴里·劳德米尔克(Barry Loudermilk)在会后说。“这是左翼试图在非常团结的共和党中制造分裂的一种干扰。”
“凯文·麦卡锡是一个伟大的领袖，他将成为一个伟大的演说家，”共和党众议员巴迪·卡特说。
虽然很少有共和党人在会后公开批评麦卡锡，但其他人表示，他们仍然需要消化这段插曲和麦卡锡的行动。
“我想我会私下和他谈谈，”亚利桑那州众议员黛比·莱斯科说，“我很高兴他谈到了他说过的话。”
McCarthy defends himself to Republicans after leaked Jan. 6 recordings
House Republicans on Wednesday rallied behind Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy as he defended himself overaudio recordings surfacedof him blaming former President Donald Trump for the Jan. 6 riot and suggesting that some GOP lawmakers were inciting violence and should be kicked off social media platforms.
In the first closed-door GOP meeting since theNew York Times released recordingsof a Jan. 10, 2021, leadership call in which McCarthy was sharply critical of Trump and some hard-right members of Congress, the California Republican argued that he was speaking hypothetically and walking through various "scenarios" following the attack on the Capitol as Congress met to certify the 2020 election results.
"He said that, you know, they were speculating on different scenarios," Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Ala., told ABC News. "He said they were laying out different things of what could be, and he said he never accused anyone of anything."
"I think the majority of the conference understood," one GOP member told ABC News, adding that McCarthy claimed the tapes were "taken out of context by the New York Times."
McCarthy received a standing ovation and a round of applause after his remarks, multiple lawmakers told ABC News.
"We're coming together as a team," Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, told ABC News, adding that Republicans wouldn't "let leaked audio tapes sent to the press pose a part we've got bigger things to do. We're all on the same page."
Still, his explanation did little to satisfy some ofMcCarthy's persistent critics,including Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla.
Asked if he had confidence in McCarthy after the meeting, Gaetz replied, "No more or less than usual."
Gaetz criticized Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., in the meeting over comments made on the recording obtained by the New York Times. The Louisiana Republican suggested Gaetz's comments attacking Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., in television appearances after the Capitol riot were "potentially illegal."
The discussion quickly turned "heated" between Gaetz and Scalise after Gaetz confronted him about the comments, sources told ABC News. Gaetz directly asked Scalise to explain his rationale for calling Gaetz' comments "potentially illegal," the sources said.
At one point, GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., even chimed in and demanded Scalise apologize to Gaetz. An apology was not offered, according to a source familiar with the exchange.
McCarthy was also critical of Gaetz on the recording, and discussed Greene as well as GOP Reps. Louie Gohmert of Texas and Mo Brooks of Alabama.
Of Trump, McCarthy said, "I've had it with this guy," and told other GOP leaders on the recorded call that "what he did is unacceptable."
He also suggested he would tell Trump "it would be my recommendation you should resign," and that some Republicans who made inflammatory comments on and around the Capitol riot should be taken off Twitter.
"Can't they take their Twitter accounts away, too?" he said, according to the audio.
McCarthy initially denied the New York Times reporting, calling it "false." After the reporters published the audio recordings of the comments, McCarthy told GOP lawmakers that he had spoken with former President Trump and that he still supported McCarthy.
McCarthy later told Fox News he never told Trump to resign.
"He basically said we need to keep on track and keep pushing forward with what we're doing," Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Georgia, said after the meeting. "This is a distraction by the left trying to drive a wedge in a very unified Republican Party."
"Kevin McCarthy is a great leader and he will be a great speaker," said Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga.
While few Republicans publicly criticized McCarthy after the meeting, others suggested they still needed to digest the episode and McCarthy's actions.
"I think I'm going to talk to him in private," said Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz. "I'm glad he talked about what was said."
