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Credit: Michael Buholzer, CC2.0
In a leaked recording of a phone call, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said it would have been his recommendation that former President Trump resign following the aftermath of January 6, 2021. McCarthy also expressed support for some of his GOP colleagues losing access to Twitter.

News Coverage from the Left: MAGA's Knives Are Out for Kevin McCarthy (Mother Jones)

News Coverage from the Right: McCarthy gets ‘standing ovation’ during House GOP meeting after leaked audio tapes (Fox News)

From the Flag: McCarthy defended himself at a Republican conference yesterday and said the recording was taken out of context. Here’s more from both sides.

• It’s astonishing to hear McCarthy clamoring for even more censorship from Big Tech, after so many Republicans and leading conservatives have already been silenced.
• Republicans should be hesitant to rush to judgment against McCarthy while questioning how this leaked phone call became public, which involves left-leaning members of the media.
• McCarthy is a typical politician who represents the worst of Beltway politics in that he’s happy to serve as a stooge if it gets him power.

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“GOP Leaders Are on Board With Censorship Too” Tucker Carlson, Fox News: “In a phone call reported … by the New York Times … Congressman Kevin McCarthy of California told his close friend Liz Cheney that he hoped the social media companies would censor more conservative Republicans in Congress. Donald Trump, the sitting president, had already been silenced by those companies, but McCarthy wanted the tech oligarchs to do more [and] force disobedient lawmakers off the internet. … [he’s] a man who in private turns out sounds like an MSNBC contributor. And yet unless conservatives get their act together right away, Kevin McCarthy or one of his highly liberal allies like Elise Stefanik, is very likely to be Speaker of the House in January. That would mean we will have a Republican Congress led by a puppet of the Democratic party.”

“We need to talk about Kevin McCarthy” Rajan Laad, American Thinker: “Before we leap to conclusions and demand the tough action against McCarthy, we have to remember who the actors are. They are Rachel Maddow on MSNBC and reporters from the New York Times. These are the very organizations and individuals who relentlessly peddled vicious lies about President Trump that he had colluded with Russia to rig the 2016 elections. … Since it is looking like the GOP is going to take back the Senate and the House, it would make sense for the Democrats to allow establishment 'RINO' Republicans to remain in the party who can help the Democrats behind closed doors starting next January. If McCarthy is indeed a traitor who wanted to stab President Trump and the MAGA movement in the back, why would the leftist media promote the conversation and hurt McCarthy’s reelection chances and that of him being made Speaker of the House?”

One more opinion piece from the Right: McCarthy & McConnell: Vipers Within the Tent Steve Cortes, America First with Steve Cortes (Substack)

• The true sin committed by McCarthy, according to conservatives, is that he had the temerity to suggest Trump ought to resign — yet they also say McCarthy is excused because January 6 was “traumatic.”
• After lying and saying he didn’t call on Trump to resign, McCarthy will still survive politically, because the former president views him as a useful stooge.
• McCarthy is continuing to lie about his involvement in January 6 discussions, and his recommendation that Trump resign, all in an attempt to stay on the former president’s good side.

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“GOP handling of Kevin McCarthy’s treachery sinks to abysmal lows” Greg Sargent, Washington Post Opinion: “For Republicans in the through-the-looking-glass world of Trumpified GOP politics, the big problem here is not that McCarthy privately concluded that Trump had committed offenses so grave that he perhaps should resign, then spent the next year minimizing those offenses and helping cover them up. Rather, it’s that McCarthy privately reached that conclusion in the first place. McCarthy’s transgression is that he originally had this thought. … In other words, McCarthy should be forgiven for thinking Trump should resign, because this was just the momentary trauma of having lived through Jan. 6 talking! This flips the story upside down in a morbid way: The actual lived experience of that terrible event should serve as a reminder of how depraved and heinous Trump’s conduct truly was. But Republicans see this as an unfortunate initial overreaction that McCarthy ultimately got past, so he’ll be just fine among them.”

“Kevin McCarthy Will Live to Lie Again” Jack Shafer, POLITICO Opinion: “McCarthy, as he’s long advertised, intends to become speaker, assuming Republicans take the House in November, so there’s plenty of time between now and then for him to remind his fellow Republicans that Jan. 6 was a long time ago, that he’s willing to haul whatever garbage Trump dumps on the Mar-a-Lago loading dock, and that everything is OK now. Besides, does Trump have a better candidate than McCarthy for speaker? Anybody in a leadership position who frisks around the room with such abandon when Trump rattles the leash and promises a walk? Such redemption would be impossible for somebody who committed similar transgressions at their workplace, at their social club or their place of worship. … But this is Congress and these are Republicans … McCarthy appears to have already gotten out his jam with Trump … [who] was not upset. Instead, he was delighting over his continued control over the Republican Party.”

One more opinion piece from the Left: Kevin McCarthy Is a Terrible Liar Joan Walsh, The Nation

Polling conducted this month found McCarthy has just a 22% approval rating among the nation’s registered voters. The rest of the surveyed group included 40% with an unfavorable opinion of the congressman, as well as 38% who hadn’t heard of McCarthy or had no strong feelings (POLITICO).

Meanwhile, a February study showed fewer US adults now blame former President Trump for January 6, compared to the immediate aftermath of that day’s events. In early 2021, 52% said Trump “bore a lot of responsibility” for the storming of the Capitol, but that number had fallen to 43% just over two months ago.

Flag Poll: Do the leaked phone call and McCarthy’s comments change how you feel about January 6, 2021? Join our discussion here.

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On April 28, 1945, “Il Duce,” Benito Mussolini, and his mistress, Clara Petacci, were fatally shot by Italian partisans who had captured the couple as they attempted to flee to Switzerland. Above are portraits of Mussolini (left) and Petacci (right).

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Today I Learned that onboard Apollo 10's mission to orbit the moon, there was an emergency when one of the astronaut's stools (excrement) got loose and floated around the ship. All three astronauts denied responsibility. This came to light when the mission transcripts were declassified.