Trump news: Kevin McCarthy says ex-president accepted responsibility for Jan 6 in new audio

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McCarthy recorded saying Trump accepted ‘some responsibility’ for Jan 6 riot

A newly released audio recording from January 2021 features House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy telling Republican members that Donald Trump “bears responsibility for his words and actions” around the 6 January riot – and that the then-president told him “he does have some responsibility for what happened”.

Mr McCarthy yesterday denied a New York Times report that said he had considered urging Mr Trump to step down in the aftermath of the riot – but not long after his statement was put out, audio of that conversation was released, confirming that the report was accurate and that Mr McCarthy’s denial was false.

Liz Cheney’s office has denied leaking the earlier recording of a discussion between the congresswoman and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy in which the two discussed whether Donald Trump should resign after the events of 6 January 2021.

On the recording, Mr McCarthy tells Ms Cheney – now a member of the 6 January committee – that he would suggest Mr Trump resign from office in the face of a looming impeachment.

Key Points

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[21 April 2022 21:28 · John Bowden]

The strange twists of Donald Trump and Piers Morgan’s self-serving mutual adoration club

Donald Trump and Piers Morgan are making headlines for their latest disagreement, but many have noted simularities between Trump and Mr Morgan, who himself is known for famously storming off Good Morning Britain when his criticism of Megan Markle was called out.

The Independent’s Andrew Buncombe takes a look at the twists and turns of their relationship:

[21 April 2022 23:08 · John Bowden]

Florida takes step against Distney

Florida’s legislature on Thursday took a step towards dissolving the private district over which Disney has control, an act of apparent revenge in response to Disney’s opposition to the Florida “Don’t Say Gay” bill.

Lawmakers gave final passage on 21 April to a measure that sets up the dissolution of the Reedy Creek Improvement District.

[21 April 2022 23:35 · John Bowden]

ICYMI: Trump releases audio to prove that he didn’t storm out of Piers Morgan interview

Donald Trump has released audio of his interview with Piers Morgan that appears to confirm Mr Morgan’s video was edited to falsely portray Mr Trump as having stormed off set.

The men can be heard cordially ending the interview on the recording, thanking each other and laughing as they wrapped up the filming for the Talk TV show Piers Morgan Uncensored.

Read more in The Independent:

[22 April 2022 00:05 · John Bowden]

Ex-Fox host blames Biden for airport meltdown

Former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly says that Joe Biden is to blame for video of him losing his temper and threatening a JetBlue employee.

The video originally surfaced this week as Mr O’Reilly was preparing to depart New York for the Turks and Caicos.

“The story is JetBlue can’t get their flights off the ground. It was crazy in the terminal,” he complained on Thursday to Mediaite. “For some reason, the Biden administration is not big on solving problems. This is a huge problem.”

Read more in The Independent:

[22 April 2022 00:58 · John Bowden]

Trump supporter pleads guilty to fraud in ‘We Build The Wall’ scam

The man behind a project to supposedly fund the construction of border fencing with grassroots donations from fellow Trump supporters plead guilty on Thursday to pocketing thousands of dollars in donations for his own use.

Brian Kolfage was once involved in the project alongside Steve Bannon, Donald Trump’s former White House adviser; Mr Bannon was pardoned by the president after pleading not guilty to charges that he too pocketed money from the project.

Read more in The Independent:

[22 April 2022 01:30 · John Bowden]

How old is Donald Trump? What about Joe Biden?

If Joe Biden wins reelection in 2024 he will be just 15 days shy of his 82nd birthday, making him by far the oldest-ever leader of the free world.

His age will likely come up as a Republican attack point in the next cycle, as the GOP has sought to portray him as senile and out of touch.

But Donald Trump himself was the oldest US president to ever be inaugurated when he took office in 2017.

Read more about America’s graying leaders:

[22 April 2022 01:35 · John Bowden]

Trump Jr turns his guns on Josh Mandel

Just days after he and his father threw their support behind JD Vance in the Ohio Republican Senate primary, Donald Trump Jr is focusing his fire on Josh Mandel, the frontrunner in the race who himself sought the elder Trump’s endorsement in the contest.

On Thursday, Mr Trump Jr tweeted an attack ad targeting Mr Mandel and described him as “The Club for Chinese Growth backed establishment candidate in the #OHSen race”.

[22 April 2022 02:30 · John Bowden]

Kathleen Walsh: Caitlyn Jenner, Piers Morgan and Trump are begging you to watch their rich white tantrums

Between Piers Morgan, Donald Trump, and Caitlyn Jenner it’s unclear who takes the prize for the most privileged whiner, writes Kathleen Walsh for The Independent.

As she explains, politics has become carefully-calculated conflicts engineered to build politicians’ and media figures’ national profiles.

“They’re not really fighting with each other so much as working together to put on a show, like WWE wrestlers or Real Housewives.”

Kathleen Walsh

Read more in The Independent:

[22 April 2022 04:07 · John Bowden]

Rachel Maddow obtains audio of post-Jan 6 McCarthy-Cheney call

MSNBC host Rachel Maddow was joined by Rep Liz Cheney on Thursday evening. The two had one item on the agenda: Audio of a call between House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Ms Cheney, who made the recording, in which Mr McCarthy indicates there could be bipartisan support for impeachment of Donald Trump and adds that he himself will discuss the possibilty of resignation with Mr Trump. The call was made in the hours after the deadly January 6 attack on Capitol Hill.

The audio’s existence was directly denied by Mr McCarthy earlier in the day.

Listen below:

[22 April 2022 04:56 · Shweta Sharma]

Kevin McCarthy’s denial falls flat as Rachel Maddow releases audio

Hours after House minority leader Kevin McCarthy denied a New York Times report that said he considered urging Donald Trump to resign after the 6 January riots, audio of the conversation has been released that appears to contradict his claims.

MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” aired audio on Thursday night, which was shared by the New York Times, confirming that Mr McCarthy said he was considering asking Mr Trump to resign.

“The only discussion I would have with him is that I think [impeachment] will pass, and it would be my recommendation you resign,” he said on 10 January, 2021, in a phone call with GOP leaders.

He added that he did not think the then-president would take his advice, “but I don’t know.”

In a lengthy statement issued by Mr McCarthy before the audio was aired, the Republican said the NYT report was “false and wrong”.

“It comes as no surprise that the corporate media is obsessed with doing everything it can to further a liberal agenda. This promotional book tour is no different. If the reporters were interested in truth why would they ask for comment after the book was printed?” he said.