Since becoming the leading candidate for House speaker, majority leader Kevin McCarthy has been treated with suspicion by some conservative commentators. Sean Hannity is one of them, and in an appearance on Hannity’s Fox News program Tuesday, McCarty faced tough questions from the host about what the current Republican leadership has delivered for conservatives. In the process, the affable majority leader made an unforced error and handed Democrats a significant political cudgel.

After some back and forth about spending cuts and Obamacare, McCarthy brought up the House’s select committee on Benghazi and how it has affected Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. “Everybody thought Hillary Clinton was unbeatable, right?” McCarthy said. “But we put together a Benghazi special committee, a select committee. What are her numbers today? Her numbers are dropping. Why? Because she’s untrustable [sic]. But no one would have known any of that happened had we not fought and made that happen.”