WaPo analysis torches Kevin McCarthy for his 'failure to lead House Republicans'

A new analysis is torching House Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) for his "failure to lead. In his new piece, Paul Kane —a senior congressional correspondent and columnist for The Washington Post— breaks down how McCarthy's shortcomings began long before the deadly insurrection on Jan. 6.

Outlining McCarthy's debacle this week, Kane wrote: "The California Republican is now under fire for statements he made in the days, weeks, and months following Jan. 6. A coming book by New York Times reporters Jonathan Martin and Alex Burns uses audio recordings of GOP conference calls in the days after the attack to show that McCarthy was furious with Trump and even considered telling him to resign as president just days before his term expiredand before Trump was impeached."

He also noted how those remarks are becoming problematic for the lawmaker. Kane wrote, "Those private statements conflict with the approach McCarthy has taken to the ex-president since late January 2021, after he visited Trump at his Palm Beach, Fla., resort and committed his loyalty to the former president to try to unify the Republican Party heading into the 2022 midterms."

Further compounding McCarthy's problems, Kane notes another issue that raises questions about the lawmaker's ability to lead. He recalled the California lawmaker's actions leading up to the insurrection and how that also paints an unsavory picture of his leadership.

"McCarthy’s uncertainty about his own Jan. 6 vote confirmed to his internal GOP rivals that he feared Trump," Kane wrote. "His supporters just saw that lack of guidance as his way to hold back and see which way the majority would break on the electoral college challenge."

He also wrote, "McCarthy’s inaction ahead of that crucial vote, along with his inconsistent positions since suggests that he will be a politically weak House speaker if Republicans can win the majority in November."