Capitol Hill reporters who have spent years covering House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) apparently don't think much of his intellect, but won't say so out loud.
As Politico's Michael Schaffer writes, many beat reporters have found numerous ways to hint to their readers that McCarthy is none too bright without explicitly saying so.
"The hints slip in, often as asides," Schaffer writes. "McCarthy is 'a golden retriever of a man,' 'not known for being a policy wonk,' 'not known for his immersion in policy details,' 'not known to have a mind for policy,' 'a coastal extrovert of ambiguous ideological portfolio who … would far rather talk about personalities than the tax code' and 'not necessarily a policy wonk or political mastermind like his predecessors in House leadership.'"
Reporters who spoke anonymously with Schaffer were more explicit in their descriptions.
READ MORE: Ben Sasse warns of Trump’s GOP being ‘a vehicle for the grievances of the angriest, oldest folk’
"I would never consider him to be smart," said one, who is described by Schaffer as having interviewed McCarthy "several times."
"In a strange way that is hard to explain, he’s gotten more stupid the longer he’s here," said another.
All of this leads Schaffer to wonder why reporters won't come out and explicitly say that McCarthy is stupid.
"If someone is in line for an important job, and people in the business of telling it like it is think that person is a dimwit, why doesn’t this conclusion get shared with the broader public?" he asks.
