Tag: Minority Leader McCarthy

Maxine Waters rips GOP criticism: ‘I’m not going to be bullied’

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Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) ripped GOP lawmakers in a Monday interview, saying they were trying to “send a message” to white supremacists with their criticism of her. 

“I am nonviolent,” Waters told The Grio on Monday after House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) accused her of condoning political violence by stating supporters of racial justice and Black Lives Matter should be “more confrontational.”  

“Republicans will jump on any word, any line and try to make it fit their message and their cause for denouncing us and denying us, basically calling us violent … any time they see an opportunity to seize on a word, so they do it and they send a message to all of the white supremacists, the KKK, the Oath Keepers, the [Proud] Boys and all of that, how this is a time for [Republicans] to raise money on [Democrats’] backs,” Waters said.  Continue reading.

Kevin McCarthy argued GOP is the party of Abraham Lincoln, not racism. It did not go well

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After four years of a Republican President who worked almost daily to spread or lend support to racism, white nationalism, or white supremacism – including having top advisors inside the White House who embraced those ideologies – House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy is having a hard time tamping down the Pandora’s Box of hate Donald Trump unleashed.

McCarthy has refused to take a strong stand against the most dangerous members of his caucus, trying to allow the extremist Congressmen and Congresswomen to actively lie, disrupt House business, and spread hate on a daily basis. Because they are raising millions.

In response to Republican white supremacist members of Congress Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Paul Gosar of Arizona announcing they are forming the “America First Caucus,” McCarthy tried to stand up to those radicals, as Forbes notes, via tweet. Continue reading.

Kevin McCarthy buried by ex-GOP staffer for ‘rolling over’ and becoming Trump’s ‘good dog’

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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.” Continue reading.

Discontent with McCarthy rises as GOP considers a possible post-Trump world

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Discontent with Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is on the rise in the House, as Republicans increasingly fearful of a loss by President Trump on Election Day gear up for an intraparty war over the future of the GOP.

A cluster of GOP lawmakers is starting to privately question whether the California Republican is putting loyalty to the president over the good of the conference. And a small group of members is discussing whether someone should challenge him for minority leader if Trump is defeated Nov. 3.

The matter bubbled to the surface this week with the primary election of Marjorie Taylor Greene, a fringe House candidate in Georgia who espouses the QAnon conspiracy theory and has made numerous racist comments. Multiple Republicans implored McCarthy to help defeat her by supporting her primary opponent. But McCarthy refused, phoning the candidate in an apparent peace accord before the primary, while Trump embraced her on Twitter this week as a “future Republican Star.” Continue reading.

McCarthy blames Democrats for delaying virus relief they already passed

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy says there won’t be a bill ready before the $600 of federal unemployment help ends next week.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is already blaming Democrats for delaying a coronavirus relief bill that has yet to be finalized, even as a relief bill passed by the Democrat-led House is collecting dust in the GOP-led Senate.

“I envision that this bill doesn’t get done by the end of July,” McCarthy said Tuesday morning during an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” referring to a different coronavirus relief bill Congress hopes to pass in the coming weeks. Some provisions of the previous relief bill — including an additional $600 in weekly unemployment assistance — expire at the end of the month.

McCarthy alleged that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would be a roadblock to legislation moving forward despite the fact that the House passed a new coronavirus relief package in May. As of Tuesday, Republicans in Congress had not unveiled a new coronavirus relief bill, nor had the GOP-led Senate engaged in negotiations over the bill passed by the House. Continue reading.

GOP Leader Berates Reporter Who Asked About ‘Kung Flu’ Racism

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy lashed out at a reporter on Thursday who asked whether the California Republican thought Donald Trump’s use of a racist term “kung-flu” was “an appropriate way to characterize the coronavirus.”

McCarthy exploded in outrage over the questions, saying in response, “Do you think that’s the most pressing issue you have about the coronavirus? … What I’m thinking about is why that is your most pressing issue as a question. When we’ve just seen a spike in coronavirus, you’re concerned about somebody and the way they name it.”

Trump’s use of the racist term for the coronavirus has sparked outrage, especially as many Asian Americans have found themselves the target of hate crimes and violence while Trump and Republicans continue to blame the COVID-19 pandemic on China. Continue reading.