According to a report from Politico about whether the audiotape of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy saying "I've had it with this guy" after the Jan. 6 insurrection put an end to his House speaker aspirations, one Republican congressional aide stated he has a major "trust" problem that will cloud his future.
As Politico Playbook notes, there are questions that the California Republican may be "toast" after he not only was busted for trash-talking the former president, but also over his trustworthiness after he issued a statement denying he ever made the comments -- only for them to be played for all the country to hear on MSNBC on Thursday night.
After claiming that McCarthy's speaker hopes may have "just blown up on the launchpad," the report goes on to say Trump, as of Friday morning, had yet to weigh in which could quickly end McCarthy's leadership reign depending on what the former president states.
"All it would take is one wink and nod from the former president, and McCarthy would have serious problems getting the gavel. The former president has turned against those he views as disloyal Republicans for less," Politico is reporting before pointing out that Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has made similar remarks about Trump and has managed to remain in his good graces.
Above and beyond the former president's ever-changing moods and feeling about McCarthy, Politico notes, is how he is perceived by his caucus after being busted as a liar by the audiotape.
"One senior House Republican aide told us Thursday night that there’s already some grumbling among the rank and file over a report by [the NYT's Alex] Burns and [Jonathan] Martin that McCarthy wanted to get some of his own members kicked off Twitter — and you can expect that to dominate GOP conversations when lawmakers return to Capitol Hill next week," the report states. "Republicans on the Hill could be more forgiving of McCarthy because they were in the same boat: concerned about Trump, but too afraid of him to do or say anything about it."
One senior aide claimed there is increased wariness over McCarthy's assertions.
Claiming "that McCarthy has a 'trust' issue," the aide continued, "He’s a bald-faced liar who literally just has no problem completely lying. And that doesn’t sit well with members,” before the GOP leader has until after the 2022 midterms to make up with his caucus.
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