A previous adviser for former President Donald Trump said that he wants to see the party rid itself of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.
Peter Navarro, who served as Trump’s trade adviser and was on the coronavirus task force, said Wednesday that McCarthy “has to go” as a result of how he handled the fallout from Rep. Liz Cheney’s vote to impeach Trump. Cheney, who was the highest-ranking politician of the 10 House Republicans who voted in favor of impeachment, has repeatedly said that the former commander in chief should not be leading the party.
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After Cheney voted to impeach Trump, the House GOP conducted a secret vote to determine whether she should retain her role as House Republican conference chairwoman, and Navarro blamed the overwhelming vote in her favor on McCarthy.
“Here’s the problem I have here, Steve: McCarthy should’ve taken out Cheney, when Cheney stuck a knife in the back of President Trump on the election regarding irregularities. Instead, we had the votes. [Rep. Matt] Gaetz had the votes. McCarthy, at a critical point, when the vote was taken, stood up for Liz Cheney,” he told the War Room Pandemic podcast, adding that it’s problematic because the Wyoming congresswoman is “continuing to beat down on the leader of the MAGA Movement, President Donald J. Trump.”
The podcast aired a clip of the Republican leadership’s press conference from Wednesday in which Cheney and McCarthy disagreed on whether Trump should be speaking at the annual meeting of February’s Conservative Political Action Conference. They also played a clip of Cheney calling for a 9/11-type commission.
McCarthy answered, “Yes, he should,” while Cheney reiterated previous sentiments saying, “I don’t believe he should be playing a role in the future of the party.”
“This is so freaking outrageous,” Navarro responded after the conclusion of the clip, suggesting that an Iraq War commission should be created to investigate former Vice President Dick Cheney, the lawmaker’s father.
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He added, McCarthy “gave” Cheney “a reprieve, and he should be held accountable. And all she wants to do is put a stake in the heart of Donald J. Trump’s presidency, candidacy in 2024. She’s going to keep talking that smack, and let’s never forget that guy, when he had her in his sights, he blinked. He’s responsible. He’s got to go. Kevin McCarthy has to go. He no longer has the confidence of the MAGA portion of the Republican Party. He should not be welcome at Mar-a-Lago.”
Trump and McCarthy met at Mar-a-Lago about a week after President Biden assumed office, and it went “very well,” according to a statement from Trump’s Save America political action committee, which also said, “President Trump has agreed to work with Leader McCarthy on helping the Republican Party to become a majority in the House.”
