Kevin McCarthy said he supported Liz Cheney but had ‘concerns’

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“Look, I support her, but I also have concerns,” he told Gray TV’s Greta Van Susteren, according to a transcript of an interview that airs Sunday. “She took a stand as the # 3 member at the conference, she never told me beforehand. One thing about leadership, if we’re going to work together we have to understand. We know that. is going to become a difficulty. She may have a difference of opinion, but if we want to lead the conference, we should work together on this conference as a whole, because we are representative of this conference. I support her, but I think that she has a lot of questions to answer at the conference. “

His remarks come as efforts by a group of House Conservatives to oust Cheney from the GOP leadership are seen as a long shot by GOP aides overseeing the process. While the Republican conference is expected to hold a special meeting on the subject, ousting Cheney as conference chair is much more difficult. The conference is expected to vote on a resolution asking her to step down and a majority should support it, which in attendance does not believe is possible at this time.

Aides previously told CNN that McCarthy was focused on reducing fighting within the party as the House GOP recalibrated and focused on reclaiming the House in 2022. A former senior GOP official told CNN that the ousting of Cheney would be a huge step backwards for the party.

McCarthy told Van Susteren he believed holding the special meeting “will help bring people together.”

“Listen, anyone can vote in their district or whatever they think is the most important. Leadership is a bit of a different job, especially when you’re the communication arm and number three. I think it’s worth it. better than in the Republican Party, that we have a lot of different voices, ”he said.“ I think there are a lot of questions that need to be answered and we need to be able to do that in a family reunion to help bring people together. “

He also said that “everyone in this country has a responsibility” in the U.S. Capitol uprising on January 6.

“I also think everyone in this country has a responsibility. Think back to four years after President Trump was sworn in. What happened the next day? The title was Resist With People Who were walking in the streets, (Rep.) Maxine Waters said to face people, face them in restaurants. We had poor people, (Rep.) Steve Scalise got shot, ”he said , referring to the filming of Scalise and four other people in 2017 during Republican baseball practice.

He continued, “What do we write on our social media? What do we say to each other? How are we at odds and still not pleasant even when it comes to opinion?”

Asked about the possibility of changing his mind about Trump’s responsibility for the attack, he replied, “No, I haven’t changed in that.”

On Thursday, McCarthy broke with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell over Trump’s role in the insurgency saying, “I don’t believe he provoked if you listen to what he said during the gathering. ” The comments came after he said earlier this month: “The president bears responsibility for Wednesday’s attack on Congress by Mafia rioters.”

CNN’s Lauren Fox and Veronica Stracqualursi contributed to this report.

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