RNC member calls for Steele to resign

"The storm" is a term that the far-right conspiracy theorists of QAnon are fond of using, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy used that term during a July 29 press conference when he was criticizing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's support of a mask mandate for the U.S. House of Representatives.

The mandate came from Capitol physician Brian Monahan, and Pelosi has said that she will "honor it." But McCarthy, obviously pandering to anti-masker extremists and coronavirus deniers in the MAGA movement, is vehemently opposed to the mandate. Monahan is calling for the House mask mandate in response to the COVID-19 surge that has been attacking the United States, especially in red states with low vaccination rates.

Embattled House Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy went all-in for QAnon Thursday in his wide-ranging, rambling conspiracy theory-laden press conference in which he called the January 6 insurrection an "altercation" but referred to the Black Lives Matter protests as "riots."

Standing at a podium with a sign declaring "Country in Crisis," McCarthy attacked Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, blaming her for the lack of Capitol Police on January 6 and the mask mandate.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) claimed Thursday that he called then-President Donald Trump on Jan. 6 because he would not have known about the riot otherwise.

McCarthy made the remarks to CNN correspondent Melanie Zanona.