WASHINGTON, D.C. — House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy on Monday sidestepped questions whether he agrees with former President Donald Trump’s baseless claim that the 2020 election was "stolen" to elect President Joe Biden.
Asked twice by Spectrum News about Trump’s allegations, McCarthy skirted the question, saying he is looking forward – and is focused on the Democrats’ spending plans instead.
“You know I have answered that question many times before. What’s before us today and what’s on the floor this week is a $5 trillion bill,” McCarthy said. “It’s also focused on what is going to raise taxes."
"These are the things that we’re working upon, for those who want to look backward and raise other issues, I think it’s time that we make sure we get America stronger, make sure we secure our borders and most importantly, stop this runaway inflation that Democrats are causing," he added.
In May, McCarthy claimed that no one was “questioning the legitimacy of the presidential election.” On Friday, a months-long review of the voting in Maricopa County, Arizona, confirmed not only that President Biden won the county, but that he had more votes than originally counted.
Still, the Republican-led audit team and Trump baselessly claimed there were “anomalies,” and then made false statements that the media was “lying about the Arizona audit report.”
There is no widespread voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election, a statement backed up by multiple courts, election officials and even Trump's own attorney general.
McCarthy also downplayed a “60 Minutes” interview broadcast Sunday with Republican Liz Cheney of Wyoming, one of the Republican Party’s few anti-Trump voices in Congress. Cheney said she would be “ashamed” to embrace Trump the way McCarthy has.
“Liz Cheney has a difficult campaign based upon what she has been voting on,” McCarthy said. “I think her state wants a representative that would represent Wyoming. Unfortunately, when I listened to her talk last night she thought the most important thing was about her and her race. And now we have what is on the floor this week when she was doing this interview the largest bill in the history of America, and taxes coming forward. I think the best thing is to represent your district.”
Asked whether there is room in the GOP for Republicans who oppose Trump, McCarthy said, “There’s always room. We have a big tent party. That’s the great thing about the Republican Party.”
Cheney was ousted her position as the No. 3 Republican in House leadership earlier this year after she rejected Trump’s false claims of a fraudulent election.
McCarthy said Cheney had become a distraction and that her role was supposed to be responsible for GOP messaging. Cheney had survived a previous vote after her outspoken support for the former president’s impeachment in the wake of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. She now faces a vigorous primary challenge from a Republican endorsed by Trump.