House minority leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, has made a career as a political chameleon. During his time in the California Legislature, he was a dedicated negotiator, working with Democrats to get what he could for his caucus while maintaining his popularity in the corridor.
In those heady days before Donald Trump, McCarthy was firmly installed in the Republican political establishment. Together with Paul Ryan and Eric Cantor, they formed the “Young Guns” that would take the GOP in a new direction, Jack Kemp style, focused on the economy, but with a less hard face.
After the retirement of Mayor John Boehner, McCarthy hoped to take over as House ‘s chief. But the questionable behavior meant that he had to watch Ryan rise to the speaker’s chair while he received the majority leader as a consolation prize.
McCarthy moved up the ranks quickly because he is a prodigious fund-raiser; conviction matters little, as long as the dollars continue to flow. Being a Californian helped, given the large number of wealthy real estate and business executives who were more than happy to transport their bright young star with great contributions and sophisticated parties.
Indeed, Orange County, once the bastion of the Reaganism, was and remains the Republican Party’s west coast ATM machine. With each election cycle, candidates and political aspirants head west to stand up to names like The New Majority and Lincoln Club and hope that their blessings will generate waves of money for the campaign and weigh in on independent spending.
When Trump was elected, however, McCarthy saw the need, not unlike Senator Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, to meet and honor the new president. At the very least, McCarthy understood that Trump had captured the imagination of many Republican voters looking for an arsonist, a demagogue who could express his anger and frustration.
Sure, McCarthy didn’t really believe any of that, but that didn’t stop him from separating the pink Starbursts for Trump while handing them over to the White House. For the Bakersfield gentleman, Trump is just another means to an end – that is, Kevin McCarthy’s continued rise.
Since Trump’s defeat last November and the election of several “QAnon” candidates to the United States House, McCarthy has realized that his position as leader of the Republican conference has been tenuous. When Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a false complaint with the U.S. Supreme Court to reject election results from several undecided states, McCarthy joined more than 100 of his colleagues in the House to sign the contract. The action was nothing less than a sedition. It didn’t end, however.
Before the counting of electoral votes before Congress last week, McCarthy and 139 other Republicans announced that they would protest against counting voters in various states. Although there was no trace of evidence demonstrating electoral fraud, McCarthy supported his president and was against democracy.
As the rebels took over the Capitol, McCarthy issued an indifferent statement calling for peace and calm. He went to Fox News and said he had never been more upset. Social media reported that his own team was so furious that he was about to resign en masse. After the Capitol was secured and after the deaths of five people, Congress met again to end the counting of electoral votes. What did Kevin McCarthy do? He continued to oppose the will of the American people.
These acts constitute sedition and help and encourage insurrection. Those who supported McCarthy financially, like many in Orange County, need to reconsider their commitments. The choice must be easy, and if not, those who provide McCarthy with the millions of dollars to elect more Republicans not committed to democracy and the rule of law must look closely at what they have become.
Although Kevin McCarthy may have started out as a charismatic aide to former Bakersfield congressman Bill Thomas, he has turned into a creature as hateful as we have seen in American politics. McCarthy will fall with Trump, Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz and dozens of others who, when the time comes, chose power over democracy. He no longer deserves a position of public trust and must be held responsible for his unscrupulous actions.
Reed Galen is a co-founder of The Lincoln Project.