- Kevin McCarthy last week suggested limit aid to Ukraine if the GOP wins the House in November.
- In response, Liz Cheney called McCarthy “the leader of the pro-Putin wing” of the GOP, saying he would “sacrifice everything” for his own gain.
- The House Minority Leader has earned a reputation among critics for going to any lengths to hold on to power.
Following his statements last week suggesting Aid to Ukraine could be limited if Republicans take control of the House of Representatives in November election, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy faces criticism he has already heard .
“The fact that he’s willing to suggest that America will no longer stand up for freedom, I think, tells you that he’s willing to sacrifice everything for his own political gain,” Rep. Liz Cheney said during a briefing. Sunday interview with Meet the press.
McCarthy last Tuesday expressed skepticism about sending more aid to Ukraine, saying ‘this is not a free blank cheque’, in a decisive split from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell position that the Biden administration and its allies must “do more to provide the tools Ukraine needs to thwart Russian aggression.”
A small contingent of GOP lawmakers, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Rep. Thomas Massie of Tennessee, have largely opposed to sending aid to Ukraine. While McCarthy was reluctant to commit additional financial and military support to the country facing invading Russian forces, Rep. Liz Cheney criticized him for positioning himself as “the leader of the pro-Putin wing” of the Republican Party.
“[A]Every moment since, frankly, the aftermath of the 2020 election, when Minority Leader McCarthy has had the opportunity to do the right thing or do something that serves his own political purpose, he still chooses to serve its own political objective,” Cheney said. said during the Meet the press appearance. “And, you know, that extends to what we’ve seen in the last few days with these comments about aid to Ukraine, the idea that somehow the party will no longer support the Ukrainian people.”
Cheney said she does not consider McCarthy “fit for the job” and his lack of support for the Ukrainian people is “dangerous”, adding: “He knows better”.
This is not the first time that such criticism has been leveled at McCarthy. His Democratic challenger, Marisa Wood, told Insider that he “sell his mother’s soul” to protect his career, and even his most enthusiastic Bakersfield, California Voters said he was making politically motivated, albeit unpopular, calculations to stay in power.
“He chose his own political career over what’s good for democracy,” Wood said. told the insider, referring to McCarthy’s public support for Donald Trump after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. “About those brave Capitol Police officers, who fought to defend democracy. This is what people are seeing, this is what people are finally seeing. Kevin McCarthy will sell his mother’s soul in order to protecting his own political career and doing whatever the former president says he is doing. And that’s not right.
Even within his own party, members have critical McCarthy’s feeble determination, with ABC News report Rep. Adam Kinzinger said the House Minority Leader showed a “complete lack of leadership” in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
Despite his public support of former presidentMcCarthy also drew the ire of more loyal MAGA Republicans after private condemnations of Trump’s actions January 6 was revealed. In leaked audioMcCarthy was heard calling Trump’s behavior ‘unacceptable’, saying ‘I’m sick of this guy’, before he later goes public meet with Trump and signed an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to overturn election results in key states. Matt Gaetz called McCarthy a “weak man” for his criticism of the former president, while Fox News host Tucker Carlson accused him of being “a puppet of the Democratic Party”. ABC News reported.
Representatives for McCarthy did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
Corrected: October 23, 2022 – An earlier version of this story incorrectly referred to Liz Cheney as a “former” congresswoman. She lost her primary but still remains in Congress.