Hardly surprising
Speaking with "Fox News Sunday," McCarthy said Trump was not aware of what was going on at the Capitol when he first reached him. A former Trump adviser told
The Washington Post that the former president was watching the events unfold on TV, an account which Trump later
denied.
"I was the first person to contact him when the riots were going on," McCarthy said. "He didn't see it. What he ended the call with saying was telling me he'll put something out to make sure to stop this. And that's what he did. He put a video out later."
As host Chris Wallace responded, that video Trump posted was "quite a lot later" and "was a pretty weak video."
In that video, which was posted hours after the riot began, Trump urged the rioters to "Go home. We love you. You're very special."
Pressed about the account
Rep. Jamie Herrera Beutler, R-Wa., shared of the call, which was introduced more than two months ago during Trump's
second impeachment trial, McCarthy said: "My conversations with the president are my conversations with the president."
Sources briefed on the call, which was first reported weeks after the riot, said the two men got into an expletive-laden argument.
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