In a column for the Bulwark, a former speechwriter for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) claimed that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has given up all pretense of being his own man and now does Donald Trump's bidding -- even if it means contradicting his own previous statements.
Under a biting headline that reads, "Kevin McCarthy, Fetch," Amanda Carpenter took the senior Republican to task for performing for Trump while on TV in exchange for "belly rubs and treats."
Setting the stage, she wrote, "Some dog lovers believe that what makes their canine companions wonderful is their ability to 'live in the moment'—meaning that, although they can be trained and obedient, and can learn to recognize and remember things they love and things they fear, they don't have distinct memories of the past, let alone an ability to plan for the future. These dogs—or so the thinking goes—love their owners unconditionally. And they just want to submit and play nice for belly rubs and treats," before complimenting the New York Times' Julie Hirschfeld Davis for once observing McCarthy as a "golden retriever of a man who hates to be by himself."
Continuing in that vein, Carpenter wrote, "Because it doesn't seem to matter to McCarthy how terribly someone such as former President Trump may have treated him in the past. If there's a political treat to be had, McCarthy is gonna roll over and do tricks. No matter how stupid he looks and sounds."
Case in point, she wrote, was McCarthy's insistence that he had no part in trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
"Two days after Election Day, McCarthy went on Fox News and declared, 'President Trump won this election, so everyone who's listening, do not be quiet,' he said. 'We cannot allow this to happen before our very eyes," she wrote, also noting, "McCarthy was one of the 126 House Republicans who supported Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's lawsuit to cancel votes in swing states Biden won."
"Don't try to make logical sense of McCarthy's answers. It's all barking and keening for the benefit of journalists' tape recorders. Credibility and consistency don't matter to the House Republican leader; the best thing you can say about him is that he lives in the moment. Who really knows what will come tomorrow—or even an hour from now?" she asked.
Sticking the knife in further, she concluded, "See, McCarthy is a good boy. He'll play fetch. For whoever can give him a treat at any particular moment in time. Trump, donors—whoever. Just throw him a bone," before adding a biting, "Woof."
You can read the whole piece here.
