Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy clashed with NBC News hosts on Monday in a controversial interview in which he spoke out against the double standards applied to President Trump. By Democrats and the media.
McCarthy joined NBC's inaugural coverage shortly after former President Biden released a series of telecasts Preemptive amnesty to five members of his family on his way out the door.
The former GOP lawmaker was asked how to reconcile Republican criticism of Biden's last-minute pardon with the Trump campaign's pledge to pardon a number of individuals charged in connection with the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Flashback: Biden told CNN he would not issue a preemptive pardon before leaving office
First Lady Melania Trump, President Donald Trump, outgoing President of the United States Joe Biden, and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden participate in Biden's passing ceremony on the East Front of the US Capitol in Washington, D.C. after Donald Trump was sworn in as president on January 20, 2025. (Chris Kleponis/Pool via Reuters)
McCarthy responded: “This is the difference. This president told the American people, during his election campaign: If I am elected president, I will pardon these people.” “Compare this to Joe Biden, who said he would never pardon his son, and who now, on the last day in the last 30 minutes, is pardoning his entire family.”
He continued: “Terrible. Terrible.” “Think about what everyone has been through. Why pardon your family? It doesn't make sense to me… All it does is put a cloud over that you did something wrong… You must know something that others don't and what it is you should know.” Why wait even 30 minutes before? Why did you tell the American public that you would never pardon your son and do it now? “The difference here is whether you agree or disagree with what President Trump is going to do. The public early on, and keep that in mind whether they vote for him for president, he's just keeping his campaign promise.”
In response to a question about fears that Trump will do so Seeking political revenge Against political opponents in power, McCarthy said it's Democrats who need to take a long, hard look in the mirror.
“Look, this is the thing that bothers me the most. For people who oppose President Trump, all they talk about is retaliation. I haven't seen him punish anyone when he had the power… He's talked about it, but I've only seen the other side retaliate.” From him and from everyone else.
“I'll tell you this – four years ago, when President Trump left office, everyone who worked for him was shut down. No one could be hired…no one could work anywhere, and then everyone had to get lawyers. Ali added: “After his trial, everyone had to go through the matter and what the Democrats did to President Trump through his trial.”
McCarthy said Kash Patel, Trump's pick to lead the FBI, “will uphold the rule of law.”
Rep. Kevin McCarthy, Republican of California, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, October 3, 2023. (Nathan Howard/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“I've seen people sit up and say I want to go after you because you said you might do something in the future. We live in America, right? You're innocent until proven guilty, but now they're going after this, they're going to uphold the rule of law, but they've seen the other side of this, which is “That people (were) using prosecution against them, which is not right, and I think they would be more inclined not to use it for that reason.”
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NBC host Savannah Guthrie responded by saying that Trump's impeachment trial on charges of possession of classified documents was “not an abuse” of the rule of law.
“That's very fair, that was for President Trump, but at the same moment you say you had President Joe Biden, he had the documents inside his garage,” McCarthy responded.
“This is something that was different… He had a document when he was a senator. I was part of the Gang of Eight – anytime, anywhere… Any senator could take a secret document. The deal was done, but would He was tried? No. What did they say? He is old, but he is the current American president.
US President Donald Trump speaks during the 60th presidential inauguration in the rotunda of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, United States, Monday, January 20, 2025. (Chip Somodevila/Getty Images/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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“So this is what we're talking about about fair treatment. When people on the other side say 'Oh my God, President Trump might do something in the future,' he hasn't. Give us time and… if he does something wrong, this is the time.” To make an argument, but now, I watched a nation with a chance to heal, I watched world leaders come to the inauguration, I watched the people who had spent millions of dollars against him, sitting behind him, and they were excited. “I watched business giants say they were changing their procedures…,” McCarthy concluded. To be “Fair.”
