Kevin McCarthy's leadership strategy for the House GOP is driven by the most extreme wings of the Republican party according to a former staffer.
The deputy policy director for Rep. Liz Cheney spoke to CNN's Jake Tapper about what he saw when he was on the House floor.
"How do you explain McCarthy's evolving opinion on Trump's role in the insurrection, blaming him directly for the mob and then months later leading the whitewashing of it?" "What do you think?" Tapper asked.
Boston Mayor James Michael Curley had a quote about being their leader. I have to follow them. I think that describes McCarthy's leadership strategy, and there's not one, O'Toole told Tapper.
The most extreme wings of his party dictate his leadership strategy. When Marjorie Taylor Greene or Matt Gaetz puts their thumb on the scale, that's what he responds to, and that drives the House Republican Conference into the arms of someone like Donald Trump. The leadership that enables that behavior is continuing.
He didn't know why McCarthy changed his position on Trump's involvement in the Capitol riot.
My values and conscience were clear for me after January 6. I made a choice to leave and go for someone who believed in the Constitution, because we need to be loyal to it. Kevin McCarthy went to Mar-a-Lago after January 6 and I think that says a lot for the American people.
Kinzinger was a Republican from Illinois.
Kinzinger said that Kevin McCarthy's visit to Mar-a-Lago in the days after the insurrection was what he underestimated. During that meeting, Trump and McCarthy agreed to work together to help the GOP take back the House.
Kinzinger said that Kevin McCarthy is the reason that Donald Trump is still a force in the party. "That full-hearted embrace, I saw firsthand in members, made them not just scared to take on Trump but also full-heartedly embrace him."
If the Republicans take Congress in the upcoming elections, McCarthy might be the next speaker of the House. In November, a Georgia lawmaker said that McCarthy didn't have the votes to be speaker of the House. He was rebuked for not standing up for her and Gosar when they were stripped of their seats.
McCarthy has faced criticism about his leadership before. In November, Trump claimed that the Republicans could have stayed in power if McCarthy and McConnell had fought harder.
